Std 5 EVS 1 · Chapter 16

16. Water

Complete solutions to the Exercise. Maharashtra State Board (Balbharati), Standard 5 EVS 1.

Exercises

1What’s the solution? Soil in a garden gets washed away with the water due to the slope of the land.

The water must be slowed down so that it soaks into the ground instead of running down the slope and carrying the soil with it.

Make bunds across the slope — small ridges of earth built along the slope hold the water back, as in contour bunding.

Dig trenches along the contour — continuous contour trenches catch the flowing water and let it percolate into the soil.

Make the slope into steps — level beds cut one below the other stop the water from gathering speed.

Cover the bare soil — grass and plants hold the soil with their roots, and dry leaves spread on the beds soften the fall of the rain.

In this way the soil stays in the garden, the ground water increases and the plants get water for a longer time.

2Use your brain power! How should roads and footpaths be built to make rainwater seep into the ground?

A road or footpath of concrete does not let a drop of water through, so the rain simply flows away. To let the water seep in:

Use paving blocks with gaps — blocks laid with small spaces between them, filled with sand, let the rain trickle into the soil below.

Leave the edges unpaved — a strip of soil or grass on both sides of the road takes in the water running off it.

Keep pits around trees open — the space around each tree along the footpath should be left uncemented.

Slope the surface towards the soil — the road can be given a slight slope so that the water runs off into the open ground beside it and not into a drain.

Make soak pits — pits filled with stones can be dug beside the road so that the water collects there and percolates down.

3Answer the following questions.

(a) What conditions prevail during a famine?

A famine occurs where it has not rained for a long time. The water level falls in the rivers, wells, lakes, bunds and dams, and some of them go completely dry. The land also dries up because of evaporation. Humans and animals face a scarcity of water and there is no water for agriculture. Grain and fodder become scarce, and the people, animals and plants of that region all suffer great hardship. A famine is a natural disaster.

(b) What works are undertaken to make water available even after the rainy season?

Dams and reservoirsLarge dams are built where possible, and smaller reservoirs elsewhere.

Bunds or bandharasBunds built across smaller streams stop the water from flowing away.

Contour bunding and trenchesBunds and continuous contour trenches along the slope make the water seep into the soil.

Wells in river bedsIn some places wells are dug in river beds so that water collects in them.

Roof-water tanksRainwater falling on the roofs of houses is drained into large tanks beside the building.

We get rain for only about four months in the year, but we need water on every day of the year. If the rainwater is not stopped, it simply flows away and is lost. When it is stopped it percolates into the soil, the store of ground water increases, trees get water, wells hold enough water and the land can be cultivated. That is how water is made available for the whole year.

(d) What is meant by water management?

Taking steps to see that rainwater will still be available in the period after the rainy season is called water management. It means using water carefully, stopping rainwater from flowing away, making it seep into the ground and collecting it in tanks.

4True or false? Correct the wrong statements.

(a) We get rainwater throughout the year.

False. Corrected statement: We get rain for only about four months in a year.

(b) During a famine, the government moves people and animals temporarily to safe places.

True. They are taken to places where water, foodgrain and fodder can be provided, and fodder camps are set up to take care of the domestic animals.

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