<P> The plateau is drained by the Godavari River taking a southeasterly course; by the Krishna River, which divides the peneplain into two regions; and by the Pennai Aaru River flowing in a northerly direction . The plateau's forests are moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and tropical thorn . </P> <P> Most of the population of the region is engaged in agriculture; cereals, oilseeds, cotton, and pulses (legumes) are the major crops . There are multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric - power projects, including the Pochampad, Bhaira Vanitippa, and Upper Pennai Aaru . Industries (located in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Kurnool) produce cotton textiles, sugar, foodstuffs, tobacco, paper, machine tools, and pharmaceuticals . Cottage industries are forest - based (timber, firewood, charcoal, bamboo products) and mineral - based (asbestos, coal, chromite, iron ore, mica, and kyanite). </P> <P> The northwestern part of the plateau is made up of lava flows or igneous rocks known as the Deccan Traps . The rocks are spread over the whole of Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, thereby making it one of the largest volcanic provinces in the world . It consists of more than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) of flat - lying basalt lava flows and covers an area of nearly 500,000 square kilometres (190,000 sq mi) in west - central India . Estimates of the original area covered by the lava flows are as high as 1,500,000 square kilometres (580,000 sq mi). The volume of basalt is estimated to be 511,000 cubic km . The thick dark soil (called regur) found here is suitable for cotton cultivation . </P> <P> The volcanic basalt beds of the Deccan were laid down in the massive Deccan Traps eruption, which occurred towards the end of the Cretaceous period between 67 and 66 million years ago . Some paleontologists speculate that this eruption may have accelerated the extinction of the dinosaurs . Layer after layer was formed by the volcanic activity that lasted many thousands of years, and when the volcanoes became extinct, they left a region of highlands with typically vast stretches of flat areas on top like a table. The volcanic hotspot that produced the Deccan traps is hypothesized to lie under the present day island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean . </P>

Why are the rivers of the plateau region swift