Report on Lakshadweep Wetlands/coral reefs. - of Planning ...
Report on Lakshadweep Wetlands/coral reefs. - of Planning ...
Report on Lakshadweep Wetlands/coral reefs. - of Planning ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
area <strong>of</strong> about 4000 sq. km., territorial waters covering an area <strong>of</strong> 20,000 sq.km, c<strong>on</strong>tinental shelf <strong>of</strong> 4000 sq. km and an EEZ <strong>of</strong> 0.4 milli<strong>on</strong> sq. km.The islands are flat, rarely rising more than two meters, and c<strong>on</strong>sist <strong>of</strong> fine<strong>coral</strong> sand and boulders compacted into sand st<strong>on</strong>e. Most atolls have anortheast, southwest orientati<strong>on</strong> with an island <strong>on</strong> the east, a broad welldeveloped reef <strong>on</strong> the west and a lago<strong>on</strong> in between.All <strong>Lakshadweep</strong> islands are <strong>of</strong> <strong>coral</strong> origin and some <strong>of</strong> them like Minicoy,Kalpeni, Kadmat, Kiltan and Chetlat are typical atolls. The <strong>coral</strong> <strong>reefs</strong> <strong>of</strong> theislands are mainly atolls except <strong>on</strong>e platform reef <strong>of</strong> Androth. The height <strong>of</strong>the land above the sea level is about 1-2 metres.The <strong>Lakshadweep</strong> group <strong>of</strong> islandscompise 36 islands, covering anarea <strong>of</strong> 32 sq.km with Kavaratti asthe Capital. <strong>Lakshadweep</strong> iscomprised <strong>of</strong> 11 inhabited islands,16 uninhabited islands attachedislets, four newly formed islets and5 submerged <strong>reefs</strong>. The inhabitedislands are Kavaratti, Agatti, Amini,Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat, Bitra,Andrott, Kalpeni and Minicoy. Bitrais the smallest <strong>of</strong> all having <strong>on</strong>ly apopulati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> 225 pers<strong>on</strong>s (Census1991). The uninhabited islandBangaram has been enumeratedduring 1991 census operati<strong>on</strong> andhas a populati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> 61 pers<strong>on</strong>s.Fig. 1. <strong>Lakshadweep</strong> IslandsAccording to the provisi<strong>on</strong>al populati<strong>on</strong> Data sheet <strong>of</strong> 2001 Census,<strong>Lakshadweep</strong> has a populati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> 60,595 pers<strong>on</strong>s. More than 93% <strong>of</strong> thepopulati<strong>on</strong> who are indigenous, are Muslims and majority <strong>of</strong> them bel<strong>on</strong>g tothe Shafi School <strong>of</strong> the Sunni Sect. The density <strong>of</strong> populati<strong>on</strong> is 1899pers<strong>on</strong>s per sq.km, which is third highest in the country and cause <strong>of</strong>c<strong>on</strong>cern.Reefs <strong>of</strong> all atolls are evident <strong>on</strong> the south west side. Androth has no lago<strong>on</strong>while Bangaram lies in the center <strong>of</strong> lago<strong>on</strong>. These islands have a warm andhumid tropical climate (air temperature - 17-38 0 C, humidity - 70%), and3
Change language