NATURAL RESOURCES AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS - DAMS 1.What are the five elements present in nature? Ans. Five elements present in nature are:- Air, Sky, Fire, Earth and Water. All these elements play an important role in a synchronized way to maintain the survival of life. 2.What are the uses of water? Ans. We need water for drinking, washing, for irrigation so on. It is essential for the production of grains, vegetables, fruits etc. 3.Name the human civilization which have grown up around water bodies? Ans. Nearly, all great civilizations of the world like the Roman Civilization, Egyptian Civilization, Indus valley civilization and many other civilizations grew up around water bodies that, have provided not only assisted fresh water but also trade, transport, defense and agriculture. 4.What is Nomadic Life? Ans. Before practicing agriculture men survived by hunting and food gathering. They used to move from one place to another in search of food. This type of life is called “NOMADIC LIFE”. 5.How is agriculture related with water? Ans. After the invention of farming methods, stability came into the lifestyle of people. Agriculture has had a major impact on the expansion of population and its growth. For agriculture and farming the basic necessity is irrigation. 6.What are dams? Ans. DAMS are massive barriers built across rivers and streams to confine and utilize the flow of water for human uses such as irrigation, drinking and generation of hydroelectricity. 7.What are the purposes of constructing dams? Ans. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures like flood gates also known as dikes are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped storage hydroelectricity are often used in conjunction with dams to provide clean electricity for millions of consumers. 8.What is a Storage Dam? Ans. Storage Dam is a dam which is constructed to impound water during periods of surplus supply for later use during in periods of deficiency. They may store water for hydroelectric power generation, irrigation or for a flood control project. 9.What is a Diversion Dam? Ans. Diversion Dam is a dam which provides sufficient pressure for pushing water into ditches and canals. This dam is used for diversion from a stream to a distant storage reservoir. 10.What is a Detention Dam? Ans. Detention Dam is a dam which minimizes the effect of sudden floods and traps sediments. 11.What is an Overflow Dam? Ans. Overflow Dams carry water discharge over their crests and are constructed by the materials that will not be eroded by such discharge. 12.What is a Multipurpose River Valley Project? Ans. MULTI PURPOSE RIVER VALLEY PROJECTS helps to solve the purpose of managing the water resources. It is either of a huge single dam or a series of small dams built on a river and its tributaries. In the first place these man-made lakes help in impounding huge amounts of rain water and secondly, they also help in controlling flood and protecting soils. 13.Give few examples of Multipurpose River Valley Project? Ans. There are various projects which set an example for managing our water resource. The Damodar Valley Project, The Bhakra Nangal Project, The Kosi Project, The Hirakund Dam, The Tungabhadra Project, The Chambal Project and The Nagarjuna Sagar Project are a few of the important river valley projects in our country. 14.What are the impacts of dams? Ans. The construction of large dams has completely changed the relationship of water and land, destroying the existing ecosystem balance which, in many cases, has taken thousands of years to create. Throughout the past few years, the negative impacts of dams have become so well known that most countries have stopped building them altogether and are now forced to invest their money in fixing the problems created by the existing dams. Some of the impacts of the Dam are:- •SOIL EROSION •EXTINCTION OF SPECIES •SPREAD OF DISEASES •CHANGE IN THE EARTH’S ROTATION •EFFECT ON HUMAN POPULATION •EFFECT ON THE EARTH ITSELF 15.How are dams responsible for soil erosion? Ans. One of the major problems related to dams is the erosion of land. Dams hold back the sediment normally found in a rivers flow, depriving the downstream of this. In order to make up for the sediments, the downstream water erodes its channels and banks. 16.How are dams responsible for extinction of species? Ans. As fisheries become an increasingly important source of food supply, more attention is being paid to the harmful effects of dams on the many fish & marine mammal population. The vast majority of large dams do not include proper bypass systems for these animals, interfering with their lifecycles and sometimes even forcing species to extinction. 17.How are dams responsible for spread of disease? Ans. Dam reservoirs in tropical areas, due to their slow-movement, are literally breeding grounds for mosquitoes, snails and flies, the vectors that carry malaria, schistosomiasis, and river blindness. 18.How is a dam responsible for change in the Earth’s Rotation? Ans. Due to the number of dams which have been built, the earth’s rotation has apparently sped up by eight-millionths of a second since the 1950’s. 19.How does a dam affect the Human Population? Ans. While dams are helpful to humans, they can also be harmful as well. One problem of dams is the fact that the artificial lakes created by them become breeding grounds for diseases. Another disadvantage is that if built close enough to human habitation, relocation is imminent. Dam related relocation affects society in three ways-an economic disaster, human trauma, and social catastrophe”. 20.How does a dam affect the Earth’s Climate? Ans. Dams have been found to alter the climate of the earth. This is due to the fact that dams generate methane gas, a greenhouse gas. Methane is emitted from reservoirs that are stratified and where the bottom layers are anoxic, leading to degradation of biomass through anaerobic processes.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 04:42:44 +0000
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