The geographical positioning of India ensures exciting rainfall activity in the country. From receiving the heaviest rainfall to the wettest place on earth, we have them all. However, India as a country with a billion people still struggles for water in many parts, even after optimum rain activity.
There are times, similar to now, when there is a heavy downpour and sheets of water on the streets. However, four months down the line serpentine queues swirl around the public taps or heavy machinery is violently digging deep in search of water. Poor planning leads to such disparity — from plenty of water to dry taps — in a matter of weeks.
In despairFloods refer to inundation of otherwise dry areas by water during rain. This could be due to excess rainfall in a short/long period of time. Floods such as those in Uttarakhand and Himachal are short-term and recede faster. These regions are hill ranges where the rain clouds condense and lead to heavy downpour, including cases of even a cloud burst. Whereas, the floods of Assam and Bihar are caused by heavy rainfall upstream which brings water to the low-lying areas at the foothills. With never-ending rain, the low lying areas get submerged for days making life impossible for the people and animals living there.
Water always flows from a higher region to a low lying area; this is why the smaller streams, rivers are below ground level and they further flow into a much deeper and larger ocean. This natural activity of draining excess water from the ground is now being hindered by human intervention. Unplanned construction and blocking of channels that carry water from land to deeper bodies causes flooding woes in Indian cities. At the end of a short spell of rain, what we are left with are water-logged streets.
Our concretised cities, provide no possibility for water to seep into the ground. This leads to the rainwater getting wasted. Our unplanned living affects none other than us, because when it rains we have floodwaters at our doorstep and a few days later we have no water from the tap.
We need to conserve water and ensure the safe passage of rainwater into storage points such as the ground below, lakes and ponds. This will ensure less flooding and more water across the year.
What you can do
Identify any two rivers in India
Search through books, newspapers and the Internet to gather information on the river.
Note down the length of the river, the source of the river and the place where it joins the sea.
The flooding history. Worst floods to droughts that the river lived through.
Impact on human life and wildlife.
Threats to the river including encroachment, blockage and so on.
Your ideas to protect the river and prevent flooding.
Now share the report as a blog or a booklet with your friends and sensitise them.
