Concept of Rivers: An Introduction for Scientific and Socioeconomic Aspects
Rivers, our lifeline have served as a way of life for many ancient civilizations. There are varieties of rivers in the world depending on the climate, tectonics and physiography. India exhibits different types of rivers such as snow fed, groundwater fe
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1 Introduction Rivers are water bodies which flow in a definite direction in a channelized way and affect our culture and civilization. The rivers were the only source of water during the early phases of man’s evolution. This is the reason why all the ancient civilizations evolved along the banks of rivers, e.g., the Indus Valley Civilization at Indus, Egypt at Nile, Babylon at Tigris, and Mesopotamia between Euphrates and Tigris and ancient cities also developed on the bank of rivers. Even in such a modern and scientific world, many of the cities are famous only because of the rivers which drain through them such as Haridwar, Rishikesh, Ayodhya and Varanasi etc. With the passage of time, humans interacted and started performing festivals, fairs, social and religious activities at the bank of the rivers. Many rituals are believed to be complete, only after taking a dip/bath in a holy river, even during adverse weather conditions. Taking a bath in a river, such as during the Kumbh Mela and Makar Sankranti, is not just a festival but it is a sense of responsibility of common citizens, as a tradition to sustain and preserve the rivers which are our lifeline. Later on, men established a day-to-day genetic relationship with the river, and in this way, the flowing water known as rivers became a way of life and icons of our culture. Therefore, they are regarded as our mother and are considered as lifelines. During the initial phases of man’s evolution, the population, urbanization, industrialization (cottage industry), and farming/agriculture were in equilibrium with the rivers and the environment. The rapidly growing population, urbanization, and industrialization are no longer in equilibrium with the river and its environment and thus, adversely affect the society and the lifeline river. In this way, the river which served as a boon has now become a bane to the society (Singh 2009).
D.S. Singh (&) Center of Advanced Study in Geology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226007, India e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 D.S. Singh (ed.), The Indian Rivers, Springer Hydrogeology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2984-4_1
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Man has been controlled and guided by natural factors everywhere but this is for the first time in the history of the Earth that man is also affecting and controlling the natural factors up to some extent since the last century, which is a matter of great concern to all of us. Indian rivers are characterized by narrow channels confined within the wide valleyes (Singh et al. 2010; Singh and Awasthi 2011a). Continuously increasing pressure of population growth on land has led to the intensification of settlement even within the floodplain and wide valley of the rivers. The encroachment of man within the natural cycle of river has polluted the water, disturbed the ecosystem, changed the transporting capacity, and increased the sediment load of the river, which in turn changes its dynamics. Hence, rivers cause loss of life and property due to the interferen
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