Coimbatore

Coimbatore

It was the capital city of the historical Kongu Nadu region and is often been referred to as the Manchester of South India. The city is located on the banks of the Noyyal River surrounded by the Western Ghats.

Coimbatore is one of the fastest growing tier-II cities in India and a major Textile, Industrial, Commercial, Educational, Information technology, healthcare and manufacturing hub of Tamil Nadu. Other important industries include software services.[1] Coimbatore has been ranked 4th among Indian cities in investment climate by CII and ranked 17th among the top global outsourcing cities by Tholons.[3]Coimbatore is the fourth largest metropolis in South India. Coimbatore city is administrative capital of Coimbatore district.

It is surrounded by theWestern Ghats mountain range to the West and the North, with reserve forests and the (Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve) on the northern side.[32] The Noyyal River runs through Coimbatore and forms the southern boundary of the corporation.[33][34] The city sits amidst Noyyal's basin area and has an extensive tank system fed by the river and rainwater.[35] The eight major tanks /wetland areas of Coimbatore are – Singanallur, Valankulam, Ukkadam Periyakulam, Selvampathy, Narasampathi, Krishnampathi, Selvachinthamani, and Kumaraswami.[36] Sanganur pallam, Kovilmedu pallam, Vilankurichi-Singanallur Pallam, Karperayan Koil pallam, Railway feeder roadside drain, Tiruchy-Singanallur Check drain and Ganapathy pallam are some of the streams that drain the city.[33][37]

The eastern side of the Coimbatore district, which includes the city, is predominantly dry. The western and northern parts of the district border the Western Ghats the Nilgiri biosphere, the Anaimalai range and the Munnar range. A western pass to Kerala, popularly referred to as the Palghat Gap is the western boundary. Because of its close proximity to the Western Ghats, the district is rich in fauna. The Coimbatore urban wetlands harbours around 116 species of birds. Of these, 66 are resident, 17 are migratory and 33 are local migrants.[38] Spot-billed Pelican, Painted Stork, Open Billed Stork, Ibis, Spot-billed Duck, Teal, Black Winged Stilt are some of the migratory birds that visit Coimbatore wetlands regularly.[32]

Apart from the species common to the plains, wild elephants, wild boars leopards, tigers, bison, various species of deer, Nilgiri Tahr, sloth bear and black-headed Oriole can also be found.[39] The Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary 88 km (55 mi) in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1,400 meters covers an area of 958 square kilometres (370 sq mi). More than 20% of the district is classified as forest, lying in the west and north. The forests here are abundant in commercially significant trees such as teak, sandalwood, rosewood and bamboo. The Nilgiris slope of the Mettupalayam range is rich in sandalwood trees and bamboo. They vary from rich tropical evergreen forests of the Punachi range to jungles of shrubs in southern ranges. Apart from the high altitude regions of Western Ghats, most of the forest area has come under Lantana invasion. The locals refer to this as Siriki Chedi.



Coimbatore has a pleasant, salubrious climate due to its proximity to thickly forested mountain ranges and the cool breeze blowing through the Palghat gap which makes the consistently hot temperatures pleasant.[33] Under the Köppen climate classification, the city has a tropical wet and dry climate, with the wet season being from October to December due to the northeast monsoon. Coimbatore is located at an elevation of about 411 meters.[32] The mean maximum and minimum temperatures varies between 35 °C (95 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F).[40] highest temperature ever recorded is 41 °C (106 °F) and lowest is 8 °C (46 °F).[41]



Due to the presence of the mountain pass, more elevated parts of the district benefit from the south-west monsoon in the months from June to August. After a warm, humid September, the main monsoon starts from October lasting till early November. These monsoons are brought about by the retreating monsoon.