The western ghats are hill ranges running parallel to the west coast. They are continuous in nature and have a higher elevation than eastern ghats. The elevation of western ghats is between 900-1600 m and they can be crossed only by passes. The western ghats are more suitable for generation of hydel power than eastern ghats.
The eastern ghats are discontinuous and irregular and have lower elevation than western ghats at 600 m. They run parallel to the eastern coast from Mahanadi valley to the Nilgiris. The major rivers that dissect the eastern ghats are Mahanadi, Krishna, Kaveri and Godavari.