NCERT Book Class 3 Environmental Studies Drop by Drop

Drop by Drop

Madho lives in Bajju— a small village in Rajasthan. It is hardlya village ! All you see is sand all around. One can see some houses when the sand does not blow.

Everyone in Madho’s family is upset. Every summer there is water scarcity in his place. This year, it is worse. It did not rain at all. His mother and sister have to walk a longer distance to fetch water as the nearby pond has also dried. Each day they spend hours just to get four pots of water. While walking on the hot sand their feet burn and blisters just cannot be avoided.

When the train carrying water comes they are very happy. Madho’s father goes to fetch water in his camel-cart. But this does not happen often. People keep waiting days and days for water. Some people collect rain water. This is done by a special method – by making tanks (tanka). Do you know, what a tanka is and how it is built? To build a tanka, a pit is dug in the courtyard and it is made pucca. The tanka is kept covered with a lid. The roof of the house is made sloping so that the rainwater collected here flows through a pipe into the tanka. A sieve is attached to the mouth of the pipe so that no dirt goes into the tanka. This water is used for drinking after it is cleaned. Sometimes, Madho is allowed to take water from one of the tankas of the village. Think, what are the difficulties people face due to scarcity of water. underground tanka roof pipe lid

❉ From where do the people in Madho’s village fetch water for drinking ?

❉ Who fetches water in Madho’s house?

❉ Water collected in the tanka is mostly used for drinking. Why ?

❉ Is rain water collected in your house as well? If yes, how?

❉ Can there be any other method of collecting water?

Just like Madho, Sonal also faces water scarcity in her house. She lives in Bhavnagar. Water is supplied only for half an hour in a day. All the people of the area depend on only a single tap! Can you imagine what happens? Sonal is determined to take water from the tap. Whenever she gets a chance she fills her bucket even if it is just drop by drop. Let us find out how many drops will fill a bowl or a mug.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 3 Environmental Studies Drop by Drop