NCERT Solutions for Class 5 The World Around Us Chapter 2 Journey of a River (PDF) – 2027

A river. It has no feet but travels far, it gives water to drink and to grow plants, and it flows from the mountains to the sea. The river telling this story is the Godavari.

Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh — the five states named on the map. She begins in Maharashtra and meets the sea in Andhra Pradesh.

Dam: Polavaram Dam (the Sriram Sagar Project is also correct).
Wildlife sanctuary: Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Manjira, the Indravati and the Sabari. Smaller rivers like these, which join a bigger river, are called its tributaries.

Because a river gives people what they need to live — water to drink, cook and wash, water for crops and animals, fish to eat, and an easy way to travel by boat. Long ago there were no pipes or tankers, so people had to live near the water.

People depend on the Godavari:

1. for water to drink, cook and wash in their homes and schools;
2. for water to grow crops, carried to the fields by canals and pipes;
3. for work — fishing, boating, farming, and factories that need water.

Farming, fishing and boating are the main occupations. People also work in factories near the river, and in ecotourism — for example as river-rafting guides, as shown in the picture.

Paddy (rice). The fields in the picture are full of standing water, and farmers are planting paddy seedlings in rows.

In my region farmers grow paddy in the rainy season, and wheat, gram and vegetables in winter. Water for irrigation comes from a canal from the dam on our river, from tube wells, and from the rain.

Write the crops and water sources of your own area.

What the poster should show: a river flowing from the hills to the sea, with labelled drawings on its banks — homes getting water, green fields with canals, boats carrying people and goods, fishermen with nets, a dam, a factory, animals and birds, and people at a river festival. Title: “Our River Gives Us Life”.

The dam blocks the river and a huge reservoir fills up behind it. Forests, fields and villages on that land go under water. Animals lose their homes, and many people have to leave their homes and shift elsewhere. Below the dam the river becomes thin.

Problems: land, forests and villages go under the reservoir; families lose their homes; animals lose their homes; the river below the dam gets very little water; fish cannot swim past the wall.

Solutions: give families new homes, land and fair payment before the water rises; plant new forests; release some water into the river all year; build fish ladders.

They end up in drains, then in rivers, and finally in the sea. On the way they block drains, get stuck in the mud for years, and are swallowed by fish, turtles and cattle, because plastic does not rot.

At home we use readymade bathing soap, shampoo, washing powder, a floor cleaner and dishwashing liquid. My grandmother also uses natural ash, lemon and reetha. The used water goes down the bathroom and kitchen drains into the colony drain, and finally into a nala or a river.

My grandmother says that when she was my age, the pond near our home had clean water all year. Cattle drank there and children caught fish. Today part of it has been filled up for houses, a drain flows into it, the water is green and smelly, there are no fish, and it almost dries up in May.

Sample list and the harm each thing would do in a river or pond:

The sugar disappears and that water stays clear. The oil does not mix — it breaks into drops and then floats on top as a shiny layer. The glass with sugar appears clear.

Sugar, salt, glucose, mishri, instant coffee, washing powder, ORS powder, urea (fertiliser) and alum (phitkari). They mix in completely and can no longer be seen.

Cooking oil, ghee, sand, mud, chalk powder, small stones, wheat flour (atta), plastic pieces, wood, thermocol and iron nails. They can still be seen after stirring — floating on top or settling at the bottom.

The first river, ‘River with clean water’, looks healthy. Its surface is open, blue and clear, so air and sunlight can get into the water. The second river is covered by a thick ‘green blanket’ of plants.

Fertilisers used on crops get washed into the river. Fertiliser is food for plants, so the water plants grow very fast and spread until they cover the surface.

The plants cover the surface like a ‘green blanket’ and slowly choke all the life inside the river. Fish find it hard to breathe, and the water becomes unsafe for people to drink.

1. I will never throw waste into a pond or river, or on its bank.
2. I will save water — close the tap while brushing and get leaking taps repaired.
3. I will join a clean-up and tree-planting drive at a water body near me.

The matching:

Dirty water affects two things: safe drinking and people’s health.

Before: keep listening to the news, pack an emergency bag, know the safe route, leave early. During: switch off electricity and gas, keep out of flood water, go to higher ground, obey orders, free the animals. After: avoid flood water and power lines, return only when it is declared safe, tell family you are safe, clean and disinfect.

Sample plan (as the Sarpanch):

• Prevent flooding: clean all drains, desilt ponds and canals, plant trees on the river bank.
• Prevent damage: keep sandbags, ropes and boats ready; set up warnings; make a relief centre on high ground.
• Elderly and people with disability: list them, give each a helper, move them out first.
• Animals: untie cattle early; keep a high, dry shelter with fodder and water.

An emergency kit is one ready bag kept near the door. It holds drinking water, dry food, a torch with batteries, a first-aid box and medicines, a whistle, a phone charger, copies of important papers in a plastic pouch, some cash, dry clothes and a card of emergency phone numbers.

I would use the water stored at home very carefully, keep drinking water separate, fetch more from a safe source with an adult, and put off washing clothes and floors for a day.

For a week, water would have to be brought in every day and used very carefully. I would drink only boiled or filtered water, cook simple one-pot meals, bathe with a bucket and mug, and reuse washing water for the toilet and plants. I would get water from the tanker, a working handpump or public tap, or a water ATM.

Sample answer (for Telangana): The Godavari, the Krishna and the Manjira flow through my state.
(a) Their water is used for drinking, irrigating fields, factories, fishing and making electricity.
(b) Yes. For example, the Sriram Sagar Project is a dam on the Godavari.

Write the rivers and dams of your own state; the table below may help.

My grandmother told me about the Godavari Pushkaram, which comes once in twelve years. People walk to the ghats before sunrise, take a holy dip, light lamps and sing. She says people thank the river because, like a mother, she feeds our fields.

(a) My grandfather says that when he was a child the river was clear and cool. People bathed in it, and there were many fish and birds.
(b) Now drains and plastic flow into it, the water is grey and smelly, there are few fish, and it runs very low in summer.

In the past people lived near rivers because a river gave water to drink, water for crops and animals, fish, rich flat soil, and a road for boats. Yes, rivers are still just as important — we still get drinking water, irrigation and electricity from them, only now the water reaches us through pipes and canals.

My rule: “No drain water or waste may enter the river.” Every drain must be cleaned before it reaches the river, and anyone who throws waste into the river must pay a fine and clean it up.

I used to leave the tap running while I brushed my teeth. When my grandmother put a mug under it, the mug filled four times! I could have wet the brush, closed the tap, and opened it only to rinse. Now I use one mug of water.

Yes. Cut the bottom off a plastic bottle, turn it upside down and fill it in layers — small pebbles at the bottom, then coarse sand, fine sand, cotton, and a cloth on top. Muddy water poured on top comes out clearer below, because each layer traps smaller bits of dirt.

The filter does not remove germs, so the water must still be boiled before drinking.

(a) Keep the river clean: build sewage treatment plants first, make factories clean their water, collect wet and dry waste separately, ban plastic bags, keep a green belt of trees on the banks.
(b) Prevent floods: no building on the banks or low ground, keep ponds and natural drains open, build wide storm-water drains, plant trees.
(c) Enough water in summer: make rainwater harvesting compulsory, keep lakes clean and full, repair leaking pipes, reuse treated water.