जल के स्रोत
Sources of Water
Water reaches people from surface sources such as rivers, ponds, lakes and tanks, and from underground sources such as wells, tube wells and hand pumps. Rain is the original source that fills them all, which is why the chapter begins with rain and ends with conservation.
Surface and underground sources
| Type | Sources | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rain | The original source | Fills rivers, ponds and recharges groundwater |
| Surface water | River, pond, lake, tank, canal, stepwell | Easy to reach, easily polluted |
| Underground water | Well, tube well, hand pump, spring | Cleaner, but the level falls if over-used |
| Stored and supplied | Dam, reservoir, overhead tank, tap | Needs pipes, pumps and maintenance |
| Sea | Salty, not fit for drinking or farming | Can be made usable only by desalination |
Only a very small part of the earth's water is fresh water fit for use; most of it is sea water. This fact is the anchor for the conservation lesson that follows in Class 5.
Traditional water systems of India
- Stepwell or baoli — Rajasthan and Gujarat, with steps down to the water.
- Johad — a small earthen check dam in Rajasthan that collects rain and recharges wells.
- Tanka — an underground tank in Rajasthan that stores rooftop rainwater.
- Ahar-pyne — the traditional irrigation system of south Bihar, a channel feeding a catchment basin.
- Kul and kuhl — channels carrying glacier water in the western Himalaya.
These systems are in the textbooks because they show that water management is old, local and community-run. A CTET item on ahar-pyne or johad tests exactly this.
How water reaches a home
In a village, from a hand pump, a well or a village tap. In a town, water is drawn from a river or reservoir, cleaned at a treatment plant, stored in an overhead tank and sent through pipes. Children trace this path in Class 4, and the chapter also notes that not everyone gets the same access — a family without a tap may spend hours fetching water, usually the women and girls of the household.
✗ Sea water can be used for farming since there is so much of it. | ✓ Sea water is salty and unusable without expensive desalination.
संकेत: सतही जल = नदी, तालाब, झील; भूमिगत जल = कुआँ, हैंडपंप, नलकूप; वर्षा सबका मूल स्रोत है।
Water gives 2-3 questions across the EVS section and the traditional systems are the most distinctive of them. Learn ahar-pyne with Bihar, johad and tanka with Rajasthan, and kul with the Himalaya, because these region matches are asked directly. Another common item asks who spends the most time fetching water, where the answer, women and girls, connects the chapter to the gender questions in CDP.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main sources of water?
Rain is the original source. It feeds surface sources such as rivers, ponds, lakes and tanks, and it recharges underground sources such as wells, tube wells, hand pumps and springs, from which most drinking water is drawn.
What is a johad?
A small earthen check dam built in Rajasthan across a slope to catch rainwater. The stored water soaks into the ground, raises the water table and refills nearby wells, and the system is maintained by the village.
What is the ahar-pyne system?
A traditional irrigation system of south Bihar in which a pyne, or channel, carries river water to an ahar, a catchment basin with embankments on three sides, from where fields are irrigated.
60-second recap
- Rain is the original source of all fresh water.
- Surface sources: river, pond, lake, tank. Underground: well, tube well, hand pump.
- Most of the earth's water is salty sea water, unfit for use.
- Traditional systems: baoli, johad, tanka in Rajasthan; ahar-pyne in Bihar; kul in the Himalaya.
- Fetching water falls mostly on women and girls.