Water Resources Test - 4

Today, large industrial houses are as commonplace as the industrial units of many MNCs (Multinational Corporations).

Much of this energy comes from hydroelectric power. Today, in India hydroelectric power contributes approximately 22 per cent of the total electricity produced.

If you look into the housing societies or colonies in the cities, you would find that most of these have their own groundwater pumping devices to meet their water needs.

Where water is sufficiently available to meet the needs of the people, but, the area still suffers from water scarcity .This scarcity may be due to bad quality of water. Lately, there has been a growing concern that even if there is ample water to meet the needs of the people, much of it may be polluted by domestic and industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers used in agriculture, thus, making it hazardous for human use.

India’s rivers, especially the smaller ones, have all turned into toxic streams. And even the big ones like the Ganga and Yamuna are far from being pure.

Archaeological and historical records show that from ancient times we have been constructing sophisticated hydraulic structures like dams built of stone rubble, reservoirs or lakes, embankments and canals for irrigation.

In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had sophisticated water harvesting system channelling the flood water of the river Ganga

A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. “Dam” refers to the reservoir rather than the structure. Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over which or through which it is intended that water will flow either intermittently or continuously.

Jawaharlal Nehru proudly proclaimed the dams as the ‘temples of modern India’; the reason being that it would integrate development of agriculture and the village economy with rapid industrialisation and growth of the urban economy.

Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the Narmada River in Gujarat. It originally focused on the environmental issues related to trees that would be submerged under the dam water.