The wide stretch of landmass of India, lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal are the Eastern Coastal Plains. It stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the north. The Eastern Coastal Plains are broad and its width is 100 km to 120 km. The Mahanadi River, Godavari River, Kaveri River and Krishna River traverse these plains. These rivers have carved out broad valleys and deltas. The region receives both the northeast and southwest monsoon rains. North of the Godavari Delta where the Eastern Ghats close on the sea, the coastal lowland is narrow. At some places, it is less than 32 km. The annual rainfall ranges between 1,000mm and 3000 mm.

The Eastern Coastal Plains are divided into seven regions. The Mahanadi delta in Orissa; the southern Andhra Pradesh plain; the Krishna Godavari deltas in Andhra Pradesh; the Kanyakumari coast; Coromandel or Madras Coast in Tamil Nadu and sandy littoral. As the Indian Peninsular Plateau south of the Satpura Range is tilted to the east, all rivers of Deccan with the exception of the Tapti River, flow eastwards towards the Bay of Bengal. These rivers have spread alluvium over almost whole of this plain and have built large deltas at some places. Sea waves being far less furious than those impinging on the west coast, have failed to scour away huge amount of sediments brought by large rivers like the Mahanadi, Krishna, Kaveri and Godavari rivers. Thus, these rivers have built large deltas which being fertile and irrigated and heavily populated. Spits, lagoons and off-shore bars also develop along the coast. The coast is fringed at some places with dunes. Mangrove forests also grow along the seaward front of the deltas. Because of the shallowness of the sea near the emerged Eastern Coastal lowlands, deep natural harbours except Mumbai and Marmagao (Goa) are absent along both the coasts.

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