Class 5 Environmental Studies Chapter 2: Journey of a River

A riddle at the ghat

Meera sits on the steps at Nashik with her Ajoba. The water slides past her feet. Ajoba smiles and asks a riddle. "I have no feet, yet I travel far. I go past fields and forests. I give you water and help plants grow. Who am I?" Meera thinks hard. Then she laughs. "A river!"

The river tells its story

"Good," says Ajoba. "And this one has a name. She is the Godavari." Meera wants to know more. Where does a river come from? Where does it go? Let us follow the Godavari from her first drop to her last.

Born in the hills

The Godavari is born high in the Western Ghats. Her birthplace is the Brahmagiri Hills at Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra. Here she is only a thin stream. A child could step across her. Nothing about her looks big or strong yet.

Growing on the way

As the stream runs over the land, rain adds more water. Smaller streams and rivers come and join her. A river that joins a bigger river is called a tributary. The Indravati, the Manjira and the Sabari all join the Godavari. Each one makes her wider and stronger.

A long walk to the sea

The Godavari travels 1,465 kilometres in all. At the end she pours into the Bay of Bengal. Only the Ganga is longer. So the Godavari is the second longest river in our country. Think how many days a walk of 1,465 kilometres would take!

Five states on her path

A river does not stop at a border. The Godavari begins in Maharashtra. She then passes Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. At last she reaches Andhra Pradesh and the sea. Millions of people in these five states share her water.

Dakshina Ganga

People call the Godavari the Dakshina Ganga. That means the Ganga of the south. She is loved and treated as holy. At Nashik, crowds come to bathe in her water. The Godavari Pushkaram is a big event by her banks.

All year, or only in the rains?

The Godavari flows in every season. A river that never stops like this is called perennial. Some other rivers are different. They fill up in the rainy season and then dry out. Those are seasonal rivers.

A river full of life

Thick forests stand along her banks. Tigers move through them. Barking deer feed there. The rare Indian golden gecko hides among the rocks. The famous red sandalwood trees grow here too. Pench National Park and the Kawal Tiger Reserve lie along her path.

Where the journey ends

Near the sea the river slows down. She splits into many small streams. This fan of streams is called a delta. Here her freshwater mixes with salty sea water. Trees with tangled roots grow in the mud. This is the Coringa mangrove forest, the last stop of her journey.

Scenario:

A class traces the Godavari on a map. It begins in the Brahmagiri Hills at Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra. Meena is surprised by how thin the line is at the start. Her teacher asks the class to follow it and count the streams joining in. The children count more than a dozen on the map. The line grows wider after each one. Meena works out why. A river does not begin big. It begins as a small stream, and every tributary adds its water to what is already there. The class marks the widest point they can find and writes the number of joins above it.

Analysis:

Counting the tributaries explains the width. The river is wide at the end because more than a dozen streams have added to it along the way.

Activity:

Find a river on a map of your state. Count the streams joining it and mark where it looks widest.

Title:

Make your own river in a tray

Safety:

Do this outside or over a bucket. Wipe up spills so nobody slips.

What You Notice:

The water always runs downhill. It picks up soil on the way. Near the flat end it spreads into many small paths, just like a delta.

The Bhupen Hazarika Setu over the Brahmaputra is India's longest river bridge. It is more than 9 kilometres long.

No railway arch anywhere stands taller than the Chenab bridge of India.

The Godavari's five states — My Tiger Chases Otters Around — Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh.

Perennial — Perennial means Permanent — Both words start with Per. A perennial river keeps flowing all year.

The tap that would not stop

Arjun brushes his teeth and leaves the tap running. His Amma turns it off. "Do you know how far that water has come?" she asks. Arjun shrugs. He thinks water is simply made inside the tap. Amma takes him up to the roof and points east, towards the river.

Why towns grow beside rivers

Long ago, people chose to settle close to a river or a lake. The reason is easy to guess. They needed water every single day. They could drink it, cook with it and water their animals. Boats could also carry them from place to place.

Water for every home

The Godavari gives water to many towns and villages along her path. That water reaches houses, schools and hospitals. We drink it. We cook with it. We wash clothes and clean our floors with it. Turn a tap anywhere near the river, and her water comes out.

Water for our food

Fields need water even more than we do. Farmers lead river water to their crops. Rice, sugarcane and vegetables all drink it. Without the river, those fields would be dry and bare. The food on Arjun's plate began as river water in a field.

Work along the banks

A river also gives people work. Fisherfolk catch fish in her. Boatmen ferry people across. Farmers sell what they grow. Factories use her water to make things. Shops and stalls open wherever people gather. One river can support thousands of families.

Pipes and canals

River water does not stay near the bank. Long pipes carry it to homes and taps. Wide canals lead it out to distant fields. This is how a village far from the water still gets its share. The water is shared by many people.

Visitors who tread gently

Some people travel to rivers, forests and hills just to enjoy them. They watch birds, learn about nature and leave everything as they found it. This careful kind of travel is called ecotourism. It brings money to local families without harming the place.

What a dam is

Arjun has seen a dam on a school trip. A dam is a huge wall built across a river. It blocks the flow and holds the water back. The great pool of stored water behind it is called a reservoir.

What a dam gives us

More than 900 dams store the Godavari's water. That stored water is used in the dry months. People drink it. Farmers water their crops with it. Rushing water from a dam also turns machines that make electricity. A dam is like a huge water bank for the year.

What a dam takes away

A dam also has a sad side. The rising water covers land behind the wall. Forests go under. Homes go under. Animals lose the place where they lived. Many families must leave their village and start again somewhere else.

Every drop has a story

Arjun turns the tap on again, slowly. Now he sees a long journey behind it. Hills, rain, streams, a dam, canals and pipes. Some people even gave up their homes for it. He closes the tap tight while he brushes.

Scenario:

A class looks at a map of old towns in their state. Arjun notices that most sit beside a river. He asks whether that is chance. His teacher asks the class what a town needs every single day. The children list it: drinking water, water for fields, and a way to carry goods. A river gives all three. The class then looks for towns far from any river. There are some, and they have wells or canals instead. Arjun sees the pattern is not chance. Where there was no river, people had to bring the water to the town themselves.

Analysis:

Towns beside rivers were not placed there by accident. Water had to be reached daily, and a river reaches the town rather than the other way round.

Activity:

Find out where your town or village gets its water. Write whether it comes from a river, a well or a canal.

Title:

Build a tiny dam

Safety:

Work over a bucket or outside. Wipe the floor so nobody slips.

What You Notice:

Water piles up behind the wall, just like a reservoir. The land behind goes under water. When you lift the wall a little, the water rushes out with force.

Odisha has a dam of earth called Hirakud. It runs for over 25 kilometres, and few in the world are longer.

Majuli island in Assam is the largest river island in the world. The Brahmaputra made it.

What a dam does — WALL: Water Always Lies Later — A dam is a wall. The water it holds is used later, in the dry months.

Uses of river water — DFC: Drink, Farm, Craft — We drink it, farmers water crops with it, and factories use it to make things.

A walk by the water

Kavya walks by the Godavari with her Nani. The morning is bright. Then Kavya stops. A torn plastic bag hangs in the reeds. A packet floats by. Grey, soapy water runs in from a drain. "Nani, the river looks tired," she says. Nani nods sadly.

What dirties a river

More people and more factories now live along the banks. Waste is thrown in. Plastic is dropped on the ground and washed in by rain. Dirty water from homes and factories flows in through drains. Slowly the river stops looking and smelling fresh.

Why dirty water matters

People still use that water. They bathe in it and sometimes drink it. Then they fall ill. Fish, turtles and birds live in it and have nowhere else to go. Their numbers are falling year by year.

Some things hide in water

Stir a spoon of sugar into a glass. It vanishes, but the water tastes sweet. The sugar is still there. Stir in a spoon of oil and it will not mix. Some things dissolve, and some do not. Harmful chemicals can dissolve and hide in a river too.

The trap of clean-looking water

So clear water is not proof of clean water. Soapy water from washing can hide in it. Chemicals from factories can hide in it. The river may look fine and still be unsafe for the fish and for us.

The green blanket

Farmers spread fertilisers on their fields. Rain washes some of it into the river. Water plants then grow very fast. They spread over the surface like a thick green blanket. Below it, fish find it hard to breathe. The water turns unsafe to drink.

Helping hands

Many people are working to change this. Along the Godavari, groups stop waste from reaching the water. The Namami Gange programme is cleaning the Ganga for people, fish and birds. Using fewer plastic things means less waste in the first place.

When the river floods

A river is gentle most days, but it is powerful. After very heavy rain it swells. It grows deeper and faster. It spills over its banks. Houses, fields and roads go under water. People and animals must leave and find safe ground.

Trees are the river's friends

Where there are no trees, rain runs off the bare land quickly. It rushes into the river all at once. Trees do the opposite. They slow the falling rain and let the soil soak it up. So forests help to keep floods smaller.

Staying safe in a flood

Safety needs a plan. Before a flood, listen to the news and keep a bag of food, medicines and a torch ready. During a flood, turn off electricity and gas and move to higher ground. Never walk or drive through flood water. Afterwards, stay away from power lines and go home only when it is declared safe.

When a river runs dry

Too little water is trouble too. In 2019, Chennai had to bring water in special trains because its reservoirs had dried up. In 2022, heavy rains flooded roads in Bengaluru. Where water is short, some places now have water ATMs that give clean water for a card or a coin.

Small hands, big help

Kavya makes her own list. Close the tap while brushing. Get leaking taps mended by an adult. Water the plants with the water left from washing vegetables. Carry a cloth bag to the market. Remind others too. Every drop and every wrapper counts.

Scenario:

The Class 5 children of a school near Rajahmundry hold a Sunday clean-up on the Godavari bank. Their teacher splits them into five groups. Each group picks up plastic bottles from the sand and counts them before dropping them into sacks. Group 1 collects 18 bottles. Group 2 collects 22. Group 3 collects 15. Group 4 collects 20. Group 5 collects 25. A big sack holds exactly 25 bottles. The children fill the sacks and hand them to the town recycling van. Then they make a poster for the market. It says that every bottle left on the sand reaches the river and stays there for years.

Analysis:

Counting turns a clean-up into proof. The children can show how much waste one small stretch of bank held in one morning.

Activity:

Count the plastic wrappers your family throws away in one day. Multiply by 7 for a week's total.

Title:

Does it dissolve?

Safety:

Use clean glasses and do not drink either glass afterwards.

What You Notice:

The sugar water looks clear again, but the sugar is still in it. The oil gathers on top and will not mix. Some things hide in water and some float.

The Namami Gange programme is at work to make the Ganga fit again for people, for fish and for birds.

Under the National Water Mission, water is looked after carefully so that people all over India use it wisely.

Flood safety — Before, During, After — Before: news and a ready bag. During: power off and higher ground. After: stay away until it is safe.

Saving water — TAP: Turn off, Amend leaks, Pour on plants — Turn off the tap, get leaks mended, and give leftover water to plants.