Geography
Bengalooru lies in the southeast of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is in the heart of the Mysore Plateau (a region of the larger Precambrian Deccan Plateau) at an average elevation of 1010 m (3,448 ft). It is positioned at 12°58′N 77°34′E / 12.97°N 77.56°E / 12.97; 77.56 and covers an area of 1741 km² (896 mi²). The majority of the city of Bengalooru lies in the Bengalooru Urban district of Karnataka and the surrounding rural areas are a part of the Bengalooru Rural district. The region comprising the Bengalooru Urban and Rural districts is known as the Bengalooru (region). The Government of Karnataka has carved out the new district of Ramanagara from the old Bengalooru Rural district.
In the 16th century, Kempe Gowda I constructed many lakes to meet the town's water requirements. The Kempambudhi Kere, since overrun by modern development, was prominent among those lakes. In the earlier half of 20th century, the Nandi Hills waterworks was commissioned by Sir Mirza Ismail (Diwan of Mysore, 1926–41 CE) to provide water supply to the city. Currently, the river Kaveri provides around 80% of the total water supply to the city with the remaining 20% being obtained from the Thippagondanahalli and Hesaraghatta reservoirs of the Arkavathi river. Bengalooru receives 800 million litres (211 million US gallons) of water a day, more than any other Indian city. However, Bengalooru sometimes does face water shortages, especially during the summer season — more so in the years of low rainfall. A random sampling study of the Air Quality Index (AQI) of twenty stations within the city indicated scores that ranged from 76 to 314, suggesting heavy to severe air pollution around areas of traffic concentration.
Bengalooru has a handful of freshwater lakes and water tanks, the largest of which are Madivala tank, Hebbal lake, Ulsoor lake and Sankey Tank. Groundwater occurs in silty to sandy layers of the alluvial sediments. The Peninsular Gneissic Complex (PGC) is the most dominant rock unit in the area and includes granites, gneisses and migmatites, while the soils of Bengalooru consist of red laterite and red, fine loamy to clayey soils.
Vegetation in the city is primarily in the form of large deciduous canopy and minority coconut trees. Though Bengalooru has been classified as a part of the seismic zone III, it has experienced quakes of magnitude as high as 6.4.
Read more about this topic: Bangalore Geography And Environment
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