Figure 1 : Physical map of Maharashtra. s I I c «f i si Is 5 £2 Si 55 « 8 a; if •^ -5t^ 5\' i.k i^y'- - /J / ? i , A- • 5 f / ''' - Figure 2: Map showing study area - Central Western Ghats of Maharashtra. 1 0 - 4.M) HI L _ j 450 • 900 m ^ 900 -150(1 m • > 1500 in Scale: l/4(MMM)0U ^^^^ -I 1 SOKm 0 50 100 Km Fig. No. 2a TOPOGRAPHY & HABITATS OF CAVE BAT SPECIES IN CENTRAL WESTERN GHATS OF MAHARASHTRA 15C Arabian ^00 Sea ^" Konkan Hills Slopes Elevaton m 0-500 500-1500 500-1000 Soils Alluvival,Sec.Lateritic Brown,Lateritic Red,Yellow Rocks Basalt,Lateritic Basalt.Laferitic Basalt.Red Bole Habitats Coastal Wetlands M.Dec.Forest Dry Dec.Forest Sandy Shores S.Evergreen Forest Scrub Forest M.Dec.Forest Evergreen Forest Grasslands Types of Narraow tunnel like Narraow tunnel like Narraow tunnel like Cave habitat Crevice,Crescentic Crevice,Crescentic Crevice, shallow cave,Buddhist cave Crescentic shallow cave, Crescentic Crescentic shallow Cave, Dam tunnei,Bridge, deep cave,Dry log wood,Buddhist cave Buddhist Cave,Dam tunnel. Old construction Dam tunnel,Fort,01d constructi(3 n Fort,Bridge,01d construction MethodologY^ '^Geography: "^ ~ The central part of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra State (Figure 1) is about i40km in length and 90km width-wise including low elevations of the spur area, thus including the area of about 12, 600km". Bhimashankar and Matheran (19° 17'N -latitude & 73" ll'E- longitude, 800- 900m elevation) are the prominent locations of the extreme North of the study area, and Mahabaleshwar (17" 56'N- latitude & 73° 42'E- longitude, 4,500 feet/ 1,372m in elevation) as the Southern most location. The study area includes part of three Districts of Maharashtra state, viz. Pune, Raigad and Satara (Figure 2). The ridge of Sahyadri (Western Ghats of Maharashtra is known by this name) is about 500m to 1,500m above sea level, the peaks vary in elevations and the slopes of the hill-range vary in the graduation. The hills of Sahyadri have terrace sides and broad flat tops (plateau). Most of the high peaks are developed as forts in the era of the Great Marathas. Sinhagad, Toma, Rajgad, Raigad and Pratapgad are some of the noteworthy forts from the study area. The forts have rich freshwater soijrces, which are natural, in form of wells or ponds, as well as artificial sources in/form of tanks on the ground or underground tunnels. The District Raigad comprises the major part of the Konkan (the narrow coastal belt between the Arabean Sea on its Western side and the range of hills of Sahyadri on its Eastern side). The steep scraps of Sahyadri in this region have many passes, regionally termed as Ghats linking the nearby and economically important areas of the adjacent Districts. Varandh Ghat, Tamhini Ghat, Nane Ghat and Malshej Ghat are the major passes between Raigad and Pune Districts. Pasarani Ghat and Fitz Gerald Ghat or Ambenali Ghat link Pune and Satara Districts via Mahabaleshwar. Many minor passes also exist, which are equally important for local transport. The study area is traversed by many principal rivers and their feeders. Raigad District has 6 river systems (Ulhas drainage, Panvel creek, Patalganga, Bhogawati & Amba drainage and Savitri river system). Patalganga drainage receives tail waters from Khopoli Hydro-Electric works. Kundalika or Roha and Savitri rivers are the principal rivers of Raigad District. Roha supports agricultural activities in the region. Savitri River emerges from the Western Ghats at old Mahabaleshwar, which is the only river, which runs eastern wards from this place. It receives four major tributaries (Ghod, Gandhar, Kal and Nageshri), which form a fan like network throughout the southern part of the District. The newly built Savitri dam at Bajire is the important water source of this region. Mahabaleshwar region of the study area is the southern most part of the study area. It is a famous tourist place and the place for pilgrimage for Hindus. It is the place from where five rivers (Krishna, Koyna, Savitri, Venna and Gayatri) emerge and run western side, exception is Savitri River, as mentioned before. Many minor rivers (Man, venna, Kudali, Urmodi, Vasana, Yerla and Tarali) are also important as a source of water at local level. Dhom-Balkavdi dam in Bhor Taluka is constructed recently on the bank of the river Dhom, which is the feeder of river Krishna. The Western Ghats of Pune District is similarly rich in rivers, lakes and dams. Bhima is the principal river of the Northern part of the District. It emerges at Bhimashankar and runs towards Eastern side forming its Eastern border. Neera is the river of the Southern part of the District and forms its Southern boundary. The feeders of the river Bhima (Kukadi, Ghod, Indrayani, Mula, Mutha, and Pavna) are important water resources for rural as well as urban areas. Dams like Mulshi, Khadakvasla, Panshet, Valvan, Shirota, Temghar, Neera Devghar, Uskan and lakes like Andhra and Mulshi are important and provide freshwater to the area concerned throughout the year. Climate The climate of the study area is pleasant through out the year and falls in the heavy rain region. There are three distinct seasons, the summer begins from March and ends in May. Monsoon commences in June due to the South-West monsoon winds, which continues up to September. July is the month of highest rain-fall. October and November is the period of post-monsoon or retreating monsoon. December to February is the cold season. The maximum temperature of the hottest days of summer in May reaches up to average 31.7*' C and the coolest days of the winter averages 9.4" C. The cold winds drop the temperature up to 5° C at high altitude. The rain fall varies little in the study area. The average rain fall of the part of the Western Ghats of Raigad District is 3,000mm, but that of Pune District is 1,150 mm. The Northern extremities of the study area at Matheran and Bhimashankar regions have average rain fall of 5,000^ m. The average rain fall of the Mahabaleshwar region at the extreme Southern end of the study area is 6,000 mm. But as one proceeds to eastern side of the study area, the average rain fall decreases. The average rain fall of the Lonawala region is m and Wai region on South east of study area has 5,00Qrn m.The relative humidity on an average is over 80% during the South-West monsoon season. In the rest of the year it is between 65%-75% in the western region and even less than 40% -50% in the eastern region, in spurs of the Sahyadri. Geology : The Western Ghats of the study area is the hard black basalt. In the plains and valleys the lava flows occur below a thin blanket of soil of variable thickness. The flows on the hills are deposited horizontally and almost uniform in composition and appearance. On the eastern side the slope of the hills is gradual and widely spread near the plains, but it is steep on the Western side of the Western Ghats. The Deccan plateau in the Raigad region appears step-like, termed Deccan traps and many deep chasms (locally known as Ghal), which are more frequent in the Sothern region of the study area. The traps around Matheran and Raigad plateau attain thickness of nearly 2,500 to 2,800 feet. The beds of laterite are common in the underlying area of traps, caps and peaks of the hills, lofty ridges and the lower regions. The isolated lofty hills of Raigad District are rich in bauxite. Soil: The soil of the hilly region of the study area is red laterite, the soil of the banks of the major rivers of Raigad and Mahabaleshwar region is red. On the eastern part of the study area of Pune District the slopes show red loamy soil, suitable to rice crop. The soil of the major river bank areas of this district is rich Alluvial appearing fresh yellow to dark brown in color. Forests: Four forest patterns are found in the study area. The plateau of the heavy rain region of Matheran, Bhimashankar and Mahabaleshwar are covered with sub tropical evergreen forest. The slopes of these regions and the hilly region of Maval, Mulshi, Bhor, Velhe and Wai talukas are covered with semi-evergreen forest. The Konkan region shows mixed forest. The low altitude spur area with comparatively low rain region on the eastern side has deciduous forest, which are more prominent in the Junnar and Ambegaon Talukas. The vegetation in the evergreen forest is represented by Syzygium, Terminalia, Actinodaphne, Memecylon, Garcinea, Listsea, Nephelium, Sideroxylon, Mallotous and Ficus spp in the region of Bhimashankar and Mahabaleshwar. Impenetrabe thickets of 'Karvi' (Carvia callosa), 'Waiti' (Mackenzia integrifolia, Syn: Strobilanthes perfoliatus) over slopes and those of Pandanus along streams are of common occourance.These forests are, however, not much valuable commercially because of their inaccessibility. The Deciduous forests are further divisible into moist deciduous and dry deciduous forests. The former is found on the slopes of Sahyadri of heavy rain region mostly of the Raigad and few in the Pune Districts. It comprises Ain {Terminalia tomentosa), Hed {Adina cordifolia), Kinjal {Terminalia peniculata), Kalamb {Mitragyana parviflora), Amba {Mangifera indica). Nana {Lagerstraemia lanceolata), Sawar {Bombax malabaricum), Dhaman {Grewia tiliaefolia), Karvi {strobilanthes see), Rametha {Lasiosiphon eriocephalus), Toran {Zizyphus rugosa). Tad {Borassus flabellifer), and pangara {Erythrina indica), Palas {Butea frondosa) etc., and contains some proportion of teak. The dry deciduous type of forest is found in the spurs of the Sahyadri on the eastern part in Pune District.