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India
The Indian sub-continent
as it is often referred to as, is situated in
South Asia between latitudes 20 00 N and
longitudes 77 00 E. It has many superlatives to
its credit such as being the biggest peninsula,
worlds the largest democracy
 and
the second most populated country in the world,
next only to China. Covering an area of
3,287,590 sq. km, India shares its borders with
Pakistan, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Burma and
Bhutan. It is covered by water on three sides,
with the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian
Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the
south. Its vast population speaks over 1500
languages and dialects. At present the Republic
of India comprises 25 states and 7 Union
Territories.
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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