Geographically
and climatically too the country is very diverse,
ranging from snow capped Himalayas in the north,
tropical maritime climate in the south, desert
in the west, alluvial plains in the east and
a plateau in the central region. The Ganges
rising in the Himalayas end in the Bay of Bengal
and is the life source the people in the north.
The country on the whole has four seasons- winters,
summers, spring and the monsoonal rains.
Different parts of India
are affected by the different calamities such
as floods, tropical cyclones, droughts, earthquakes,
hailstorms, avalanches, fires and accidents
from time to time.
Floods:
The country is divided
into four flood regions according to the river
systems. They are the Brahmaputra region, Ganga
region, the Indus region and the central and
Deccan regions comprising of the rivers Narmada,
Tapti and all rivers flowing south eastwards.
It is estimated that an average of 40 million
hectares is subjected to floods annually.
Droughts:
Thirty percent of the
area receives less than 750-mm rainfall per
year and is classified as drought prone regions.
Besides this there are other regions, which
receive medium rainfall, and is said to be transitional
zones coming under the drought prone regions.
The rivers in the southern part of the country
are fed by the rains and in the years when the
rains fail these regions suffer from droughts
like situations.
Cyclones:
The coastline of India
extends over 6000 km, and is affected by 5 to
6 cyclones every year, out of which 2 to 3 are
more often than not severe. Cyclones occur mainly
in the months between April and May and October
and November.
Earthquakes:
56 percent of the total
area constitutes the active seismic zone. The
northern regions are the most susceptible to
earthquakes.
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