NCERT Solutions for Class 5 EVS Chapter 18

People living in villages move to cities with their families for:
• A better life with all the basic facilities.
• Good job opportunities and livelihood.
• Good education for their children.
• Better facilities like health, hospitals etc.
• Comfortable life.
• For better prospects which are not available in the villages.

The area where a dam is built on a river has to be evacuated as a huge wall has to be constructed to block the flow of the river water. People in that area are under a constant threat of drowning in the water. So, they have to leave their homes, fields and property etc. and shift to resettle themselves to a new area where they may or may not be able to adjust.

Dam is a barrier that is constructed to stop or restrict the flow of water. They are usually built or constructed across a river to create a reservoir in the valley behind by storing the water that flows into it naturally. It creates storage area for water that is transported from somewhere else.

The benefits of constructing a dam are:
• It provides water for irrigation
• Controls floods and stores the flood water
• Produces electricity
• Supplies water for agricultural, domestic and industrial purposes
• Maintain wildlife habitats
• Organize recreational activities like boating.

The problems faced by the people are-
• Difficulties of adjusting to the new environment
• language barrier,
• cultural differences
• differences in beliefs, traditions
• hardships adjusting to the city weather.
• Finding new jobs, hoses
• School for children
• Adjustment of children to a new area.

Jatryabhai collected rubber pieces of old tyres to light the stoves. It catches fire fast and saves firewood.

The problems faced by Jatryabhai in Sinduri were-
• He had to pay for everything like medicine, food, vegetables, firewood, kerosene and fodder for animals
• Roof were made of tin which used to get hot like an oven
• Electricity was not available for whole day
• Land was not good for farming
• No water was available
• Good doctors were not available
• people of that place called then unwanted guests and made fun of them.

Jatryabhai and his family leave Sinduri and migrated to Mumbai because they could not adjust to the new village and he came to Mumbai for a better life and better future.

They people of Khedi had everything available with them which they wanted to lead a good life. But they had to leave even though they didn’t want to because a dam was going to be built on the river and for that villages which were on the banks of the river had to be removed and Khedi was one of them.

The government officials along with the police started visiting the Khedi village. The officials measured the width and length of the river, the fields, forests and houses. They also called meetings with the elders of the village and told them that the villages that were on the bank of the river would have to be removed. They also told them that people having land at Khedi will have to leave be given land faraway, on the other side of the river. They will have everything there for them- a school, electricity, hospitals, buses, trains, etc. They will have all the facilities that they could not even dream of here in Khedi.”

As the children had seen the police for the first time so some children started running after them and some got scared and started crying.

Jatrya’s parents were not interested in shifting from Khedi village because they did not want to leave a place where they had been living from such a long period of time. They did not want to leave their village because they were scared that they might not be able to adjust and it would be difficult for them to cope up with anew changed environment.

Jatrya was a little scared, but excited too. He started thinking that after getting married, he would take his bride to the new house in the new village. He was dreaming of a house where he could just press a button for the light and turn on the tap for water. He could go by bus to see the city. And when he would have children, he would send them to school to get good education.

Jatrya’s parents had been so sad about leaving Khedi that they died before he moved here.

There was a school there in Sinduri but the teacher did not care much about the children who had come from Khedi village. These children found it difficult to study in a new language. Similarly, there were hospitals in Sinduri but it was difficult to find doctors, and there were no medicines.

Demolition is the act of demolishing or destroying or ruining a building or other structure.

Migration- Migration is the movement of either people or animals from one area to another. It is the movement from one region or place of habitat to another in which an individual or a group of animals moves from their habitat to the new habitat.

One of the largest and most successful environmental campaigns is the Narmada Bachao Andolan which began with a wide developmental agenda that is the construction of of large dam projects in India.

The disadvantages of constructing a dam are:
• Displacement of people during construction.
• Reservoirs often release a high percentage of greenhouse gases.
• It disturbs the groundwater table.
• Often dislocate the local ecosystems.

Jatrya felt alone in Mumbai even when he was surrounded by people because the place was totally new for him. He did not know any one there. Moreover, there was a difference in the lifestyle of the people in Mumbai. They were busy amongst themselves and had no time for anyone else.

Jatrya remembered the days he had spent in Khedi a lot because he was born and brought up in Khedi village, which was situated in the middle of thick green jungles and hills. His people had been living here for many years, even before his grandfather was born. There was peace in Jatrya’s village, but not silence. There were so many soothing sounds, the gurgle of the flowing river, the murmur of trees and the chirping of birds. People did farming. They would go to the nearby forest, chat and sing together, collect wild fruits, roots and dried wood. While working with elders, children also learnt to dance together, play flute and dhol, make pots of clay and bamboo, recognize the birds and imitate their sounds, etc. This all was missing in Sinduri and Mumbai.

Sidya was working in the fish factory to earn some money. From four o’clock till seven o’clock in the morning, he used to clean and sort the big and small fish. Then he would come home, take a nap, and go to school in the afternoon. In the evening he would wander around the vegetable market. He would help some memsahib(lady) to carry her bags, or go to the railway station to pick up empty bottles and newspapers to sell to the kabadiwalla (junkseller).

Burning tyres is harmful as it releases smoke and the smell that comes out by burning it is terrible. Such fires produce much smoke carrying toxic chemicals produced from the breakdown of synthetic rubber while burning. And thus it pollutes the air and the environment and leads to respiratory problems too.