Q1.
These images (Fig. 3.6 on page 50) depict a few challenges that people living in the mountains may face. Discuss them in groups in the class and write one paragraph on each. Also discuss why, despite many such challenges, people still choose to live in the mountains.
Answer
Fig. 3.6 carries seven labelled pictures. Here is one paragraph on each, in the order the labels appear, followed by the answer to the second half of the question.
| Challenge in Fig. 3.6 | A paragraph on it |
|---|---|
| Flash flood | A flash flood is a sudden local flood, often caused by a cloudburst. In the mountains the slopes are steep and the soil is thin, so rain does not sink in — it races downhill and turns a small stream into a roaring brown torrent within minutes. There is almost no warning. Bridges, footpaths, parked vehicles and riverside houses can be swept away, and villages get cut off because the road has simply vanished. |
| Landslide | A landslide is the sudden collapse of a mass of earth or rock from a mountainside. Heavy rain soaks the soil and makes it heavy and slippery, and gravity does the rest. Road cutting, blasting and unplanned construction make slopes weaker still. A single landslide can bury a stretch of highway, block a river and isolate whole valleys for days — the picture in the book shows exactly this, a road broken clean through. |
| Uncontrolled tourism | This is a human-made challenge, not a natural one. Tourism brings welcome income, but when too many vehicles and visitors arrive at once, narrow hill roads jam for hours, water and electricity run short, plastic waste piles up on slopes where no truck can collect it, and the quiet that people came for is destroyed. The mountain environment is fragile, and it is often difficult to find the right balance between welcoming visitors and protecting the place. |
| Avalanche | An avalanche is the sudden fall of snow, ice or rock down a mountainside, and it often happens when the snow starts melting. A whole hillside of snow can break loose and rush down faster than a car, burying anything in its path. Mountaineers, soldiers posted at high altitude, road workers and villages below steep snow slopes are all at risk, and rescue is very hard because the debris sets almost as hard as concrete. |
| Heavy snowfall | A heavy snowfall can bury roads, roofs and fields in a single night. Passes close, buses stop, schools shut and villages may be cut off for weeks. Water pipes freeze and burst, electricity lines snap under the weight, and food, fuel and medicines have to be stored in advance. That is why hill houses have steep sloping roofs — so that snow slides off instead of piling up and crushing the roof. |
| Cloudburst | A cloudburst is a sudden violent rainstorm in which an enormous amount of rain falls on a small area in a very short time. Mountains force moist air to rise sharply, which is why cloudbursts are common over them. The falling water cannot soak in or drain away fast enough, so a cloudburst usually triggers the other two disasters in this figure — flash floods and landslides — one after the other. |
| Cold weather | Temperature falls as altitude rises, so mountain winters are long and bitter. Warm clothing, firewood and well-insulated homes are necessities, not comforts. Crops grow for only part of the year, so food must be preserved and stored. Cold also makes ordinary things hard — construction stops, taps freeze, and elderly people and infants need special care. |
So why do people still choose to live in the mountains?
- It is home. Families have lived there for generations; their land, houses, temples, festivals, language and relatives are all there. People do not measure a home only by its dangers.
- Pure air and beautiful surroundings. The chapter's own caption says life in the mountains has definite positives, “from pure air to the beautiful scenery”.
- A living from the mountain. Terrace farming in the valleys, herding, orchards of apple and walnut, forest produce, medicinal plants — and tourism, which is often the biggest source of income.
- Water and safety. Mountain springs give clean water all year, and the isolation that makes travel hard also keeps the crowding, noise and pollution of the plains away.
- Culture and faith. Many communities regard mountains as sacred; pilgrimage routes and shrines have supported settlements for centuries.
- Skill and resilience. People adapt — sloping roofs, terraced fields, stored food, warm woollens, and a deep knowledge of which slope is safe. The chapter closes on exactly this word: resilience.
Tip for the group work: divide the seven pictures among the group members, one paragraph each, and then read all seven aloud in order. You will notice that cloudburst → flash flood → landslide are really one chain of events, not three separate accidents.