Terai
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The Terai (Hindi: तराई, Urdu: ترائی, translation: "moist land" or "foothill" [originally from Persian]), is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests at the base of the Himalaya range in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, from the Yamuna River in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east. Above the Terai belt lies the Bhabhar, a forested belt of rock, gravel, and soil eroded from the Himalayas, where the water table lies from 5 to 37 meters deep. The Terai zone lies below the Bhabhar, and is composed of alternate layers of clay and sand, with a high water table that creates many springs and wetlands. The Terai zone is inundated yearly by the monsoon-swollen rivers of the Himalaya. Below the Terai lies the great alluvial plain of the Yamuna, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and their tributaries.
The Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands is an ecoregion that stretches across the middle of the Terai belt, from Uttarakhand state through southern Nepal to northern West Bengal. The Terai-Duar savanna and wetlands are a mosaic of tall grasslands, savannas and evergreen and deciduous forests. The grasslands are among the tallest in the world, and are maintained by silt deposited by the yearly monsoon floods. Important grasses include Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum) and Baruwa grass (Saccharum benghalensis). The ecoregion is home to the endangered Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), as well as elephants, tigers, bears, leopards and other wild animals. Much of the ecoregion has been converted to farmland, although Royal Chitwan National Park and Royal Bardia National Park preserve significant sections of habitat, and are home to some of the greatest concentrations of rhinoceros and tiger remaining in South Asia.
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[edit] Terai in Nepal
In Nepal the Terai is differentiated into "outer" and "inner" Terai.
"Outer Terai" begins at the alluvial, generally forested and often marshy zone along the southern edge of the 1,000 metre Siwalak Range -- the first and lowest range of Himalayan foothills. By convention it extends south across drier, mostly cleared agricultural land to the border with India. Major examples in Nepal are cities like Birgunj, Biratnagar, Janakpur etc.
"Inner Terai" refers to several elongated valleys lying between the Siwalak Range and the 2-3,000 metre Mahabharat Range further north. In India these valleys are called "Duns", e.g. "Dehra Dun". Most of these valleys extend east-west or SSE-WNW parallel to the surrounding ranges. They are five to ten kilometers wide and up to a hundred kilometers long.
Major examples in Nepal are Chitwan southwest of Kathmandu and the parallel Dang and Deukhuri valleys in western Nepal.
Inner Terai valleys historically were agriculturally productive, but infested with malaria. The indigenous Tharu people had a degree of inherited resistance and populated these areas. A malaria eradication campaign opened the Inner Terai to settlers from the "hills" to the north and from neighbouring India, to the detriment of indigenous peoples.
[edit] Economy
Economically, Terai is the most productive region of Nepal. The majority of the major industries in Nepal are in this region. Agriculture is the main economic stake of the region.[1] Main crops are paddy, wheat, pulses, moong, sugarcane, jute, tobacco, and maize. Many agro-based industries like jute factories, sugar mills, rice mills and tobacco factories are established throughout the region.
[edit] Tourism
The main places to visit in the Terai are Lumbini, considered to be the birth place of Buddha; Bardia National Park, Chitwan National Park and Janakpur, the birthplace of Sita and where she married Rama, described in the epic of the Ramayana.
The main east–west road through Nepal is the Mahendra Highway, which goes from the Karnali River at the western border of to Kakarbhitta on the eastern border of Nepal. Major cities like Biratnagar, Bhairawa, Birgung, etc., are well connected with airports.
[edit] Major municipalities
- Biratnagar
- Birganj
- Bhadrapur
- Dhangadhi
- Inaruwa
- Ithahari
- Janakpur
- Lahan
- Mahendranagar
- Mechinagar
- Nepalgunj
- Siddhartanagar
- Rajbiraj
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ P. 46 Nepal: A Detailed Geographical Account By R. P. Sharma
[edit] External links
