Eternal Waters

Sustaining Life in the Nilgiris Immerse yourself in the remarkable role of water within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, where rivers and wetlands nurture biodiversity and provide an everlasting source of sustenance.

Nilgiris Water

Nurturing Life Across the Plains

Explore the vital role of the Nilgiris as an essential water source, breathing life into the surrounding plains and sustaining ecosystems with its perennial flow.

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The Nilgiris is a perennial source of water to much of the densely-populated plains. The Bhavani, the Kabini, the Moyar, and the Kuntipuzha rivers all emerge from the forests, serving as sources of water for the plains.

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The water remaining after being used up by life in Nilgiris flows down to the plains. Just by inserting bamboo into wet slopes, water would gush out. When large areas on the hills were planted with exotic species such as Eucalyptus trees, water was more likely to flow down and be collected than absorbed into the soil. Thus, there was an increase in the surface runoff in plantation areas.

The Mukurthi National Park is like a table high in the upper Nilgiri plateau. It serves as a catchment area for hundreds of small streams that come out from the valleys in all directions. The most noticeable river is the Pykara River, which originates from the grasslands, sholas, and wetlands. There are many more major streams that originate in a similar manner. Thus, the Nilgiri Peak plays a significant role in supplying water to the Pandiyar system. The streams also appear as waterfalls when they gush out the valleys and wetlands and move down the slopes into the evergreen forests. 

There are large reservoirs and tunnels present in the protected shola-grassland mosaic. Channels have been dug through mountains, collecting and taking water from Reservoir No. III to Porthimund.