Malenadu

Malenadu (or Malnad) is a geographical region in the state of Karnataka, India. It covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats mountain range, it also covers the Eastern Ghats range partly. It consists of 13 districts such as Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikmagaluru, Udupi, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Dharwad, Haveri, Davangere, Mysore. The region experiences heavy annual rainfall of 1,000–3,800 millimetres (39–150 inches); most notably, the village of Agumbe in the region, receives the highest annual rainfall in Karnataka of 10,000 millimetres (390 inches). This region of the state experiences unique infrastructure challenges due to settlement patterns, sparse population, topography, dense forest, and numerous rivulets. Villages in the Malenadu are scattered throughout remote areas. To encourage development in the area, the Area Development Board was created in 1991 to implement necessary projects. The Malnad region consists of 13 districts however the districts initially covering the region were Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Hassan and Belagavi.