Forty-four perennial rivers, and only three of them flow east

Background

The Kerala Forest Department's account of the State's physiography records that Kerala has 44 perennial rivers. Three of them flow eastward and 41 drain into the Lakshadweep Sea. The Kerala Legislature's own profile of the State gives the same split, 41 west flowing and three east flowing. The department records that these rivers have steep gradients and swift flow, form no deltas, and primarily follow a dendritic drainage pattern. Kerala's terrain is divided into three natural regions, the highlands, midlands, and lowlands. Vembanad, Kerala's largest lake, is part of the Kerala Backwaters in the lowlands. Kerala lies on the windward side of the Western Ghats and receives an average annual rainfall of about 3000 mm.