Floods is an overflow of water from a river or a stream. During the maturity stage of any river the depth of the river is less and the width goes on increasing. The load carrying capacity of river ganga is reduced so the load is deposited on the bed of the river to make it shallow.
During summer seasons when the snow melts at the source region.
Causes of floods
- Natural
- Man-made
1. Natural
During rainy seasons as the supply of water at the source region of the main river and its tributaries increases the river gets flooded. During the summer season when the high temperature makes the snow melt to increase the supply of water at the source region, it causes floods.
2. Man-made
For many purposes we construct dams to the rivers. During the rainy seasons these dams flood. The level of artificial stored water in the catchment area rises above the normal level of water to cause floods. The rivers flowing through the urban areas often change their courses due to the construction work and mining work causing floods.
Classification:
On the basis of intensity of floods they can be classified as,
- Ordinary
- Standard project
- Design
1. Ordinary:
The normal rise of water level above the bank to make it spread over the shallow region along the bank is called ordinary floods. After the rainy seasons the river goes back to its normal size.
2. Standard project:
The floods occurred with higher estimated intensity with which the design of the reservoir has been made is called as standard project floods.
3. Design:
We should not choose the very high or very low value of the construction of dams.
The dam with low value designs causes more damage in the area of the river.
Factors causing floods
- Intensity of rainfall
- Duration of rainfall
- Amount of rainfall over the catchment area
- Shape of catchment area
- Topography
- Surface soil
- Wind direction
- Humidity
- Heat
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