Chitteri, also known as Sitheri hills, are one of the segments of
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...
of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, spread over an area of 654.52 km² within the geographical limit of 78°15’−78°45’E longitude and 11°44’−12°08’N latitude. The hill harbour various vegetation types such as the evergreen, the semi-evergreen, the
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
, the dry mixed deciduous, the dry deciduous scrub and the southern thorn
scrub forest
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ma ...
s (Champion and Seth, 1968). The minimum and maximum temperature of the area is 19 °C (in winter) and 40 °C (in summer) respectively. The annual
rainfall
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
varies from 620 to 900 mm and it received both northeast and southwest
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
s. The hills form a compact block consisting of several hill ranges, and contain tangled ridges and ravines running in the northeast and southwest directions, enclosing many narrow valleys (rivers), viz. Kallar, Varattar, Kambalai and Anaimaduvu. Topographically, the area is undulating with an altitude varying from 240 to 1266 m. The rocks on Chitteri hills are chiefly gneisses/granitic in composition. Soil is generally shallow and reddish-loam, varying in fertility and often mixed with gravel and boulders. Black soils are seldom found in the forests.
On the night of 13 September 2011, at least 10 people have been reported killed and more than 70 injured when a passenger train from Chennai rammed into a stationary train near Chitteri railway station.
On 11 April 2013, The Muzaffarpur-Yeswantpur Express train derailed around 6 am at Chitteri, Eleven coaches derailed in Tamil Nadu, killing one person and injuring 50 others. Six of these 50 people have suffered serious injuries.
Hills of Tamil Nadu
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