Munnar

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For the 2009 film, see Munnar (film).
Munnar
മൂന്നാർ
Hill station
Munnar Hill station
Munnar Hill station
Munnar is located in Kerala
Munnar
Munnar
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country India
State Kerala
District  • Idukki
Area
 • Hill station 557 km2 (215 sq mi)
Elevation[1] 1,700 m (5,600 ft)
Population
 • Metro 68,205
Languages
 • Official Malayalam, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 685 612
Telephone code 04865-
Vehicle registration KL-06
Website keralatourism.org/destination

Munnar is a town and hill station located in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level,[2] in the Western Ghats range of mountains.

The name Munnar is believed to mean "three rivers",[3] referring to its location at the confluence of the Mudhirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundaly rivers.[4] Munnar town is situated on the Kannan Devan Hills village in Devikulam taluk and is the largest panchayat in the Idukki district covering an area of nearly 557 square kilometres (215 sq mi).[citation needed] The nearest major railway stations are at Ernakulam and Aluva (approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi) by road). The Nearest Functioning Railway station is at Udumalaipettai according to Google maps The nearest airport is Cochin International Airport, which is 105 kilometres (65 mi) away.

Flora and fauna

Tea plantations in Munnar

Most of the native flora and fauna of Munnar have disappeared due to severe habitat fragmentation resultant from the creation of the plantations. However, some species continue to survive and thrive in several protected areas nearby, including the new Kurinjimala Sanctuary to the east, the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Manjampatti Valley and the Amaravati reserve forest of Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary to the north east, the Eravikulam National Park and Anamudi Shola National Park to the north, the Pampadum Shola National Park to the south and the proposed Palani Hills National Park to the east.

Endemic species

These protected areas are especially known for several threatened and endemic species including Nilgiri Thar, the grizzled giant squirrel, the Nilgiri wood-pigeon, elephant, the gaur, the Nilgiri langur, the sambar, and the neelakurinji (that blossoms only once in twelve years). [5][6]

Land ownership

There has been action to address the problems of property takeovers by the land mafia that have, according to successive governments, plagued the area. In 2011, the government estimated that 20,000 hectares of land had been illegally appropriated and it launched a campaign of evictions that had first been mooted in 2007.[7]

Geography and climate

The region in and around Munnar varies in height from 1,450 meters (4,760 ft) to 2,695 meters (8,842 ft) above mean sea level. The temperature ranges between 5 °C (41 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F) in winter and 15 °C (59 °F) and 25 °C (77 °F) in summer.[8] Temperatures as low as −4 °C (25 °F) have been recorded in the Sevenmallay region of Munnar.[9][not in citation given]

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies it as subtropical highland (Cwb).[10]

Climate data for Munnar
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 22.4
(72.3)		 23.7
(74.7)		 25.3
(77.5)		 25.6
(78.1)		 25.6
(78.1)		 23.7
(74.7)		 22.4
(72.3)		 22.8
(73)		 23.2
(73.8)		 22.7
(72.9)		 21.8
(71.2)		 21.9
(71.4)		 23.42
(74.17)
Daily mean °C (°F) 17.6
(63.7)		 18.7
(65.7)		 20.2
(68.4)		 21
(70)		 21.4
(70.5)		 20.3
(68.5)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.5
(67.1)		 19.6
(67.3)		 19.2
(66.6)		 18.3
(64.9)		 17.7
(63.9)		 19.4
(66.94)
Average low °C (°F) 12.9
(55.2)		 13.7
(56.7)		 15.1
(59.2)		 16.5
(61.7)		 17.3
(63.1)		 16.9
(62.4)		 16.3
(61.3)		 16.3
(61.3)		 16
(61)		 15.7
(60.3)		 14.8
(58.6)		 13.5
(56.3)		 15.42
(59.76)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 18
(0.71)		 29
(1.14)		 47
(1.85)		 129
(5.08)		 189
(7.44)		 420
(16.54)		 583
(22.95)		 364
(14.33)		 210
(8.27)		 253
(9.96)		 164
(6.46)		 64
(2.52)		 2,470
(97.25)
Average rainy days 2 2 3 6 8 9 10 9 10 12 8 5 84
Mean monthly sunshine hours 248 232 248 240 217 120 124 124 150 155 180 217 2,255
Source #1: Climate-Data.org, altitude: 1461m[10]
Source #2: Weather2Travel for sunshine and rainy days[11]
Hills around the tea plantations, Munnar

See also

References

  1. ↑ Munnar
  2. ↑ Munnar - the Hill Station of Kerala in Idukki | Kerala Tourism
  3. ↑ Munnar History
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Frost hits plantations in Munnar[not in citation given]
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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