Page 33 - Sugam Sarita

CHAPTER 2

Economical Avenues at the River

Banks

The rivers of India are of great economic importance in the lives
of the Indian people. One of the earliest settlements in India, the

Indus valley civilization, started on the river banks as the rivers have
the potential to become the source of livelihood and generate the
economic activities around them. The purpose of this chapter is to
understand the economic avenues around rivers and how rivers have

contributed to India’s economic development.

From the ancient times, rivers have provided space for human
civilizations to grow. Since several daily needs are fulfilled by the
rivers, it has attracted people to settle around it, thus offering umpteen

economic opportunities for the people. This is one the key reasons
why cities like Agra and Delhi, situated at the banks of river Yamuna,
Varanasi situated at the banks of river Ganga, Guwahati situated at
the banks of Brahmaputra, and Kolkata situated at the banks of river

Hooghly developed at the exponential rates According to a World
Bank report titled ‘Issues and Priorities for Agriculture India has
about 195 million hectares of land under cultivation. Of this, about
63% or nearly 125 million hectares is rain-fed, while 37% or 70 million

hectares of agricultural land depends on irrigation. Generally, rivers
around agricultural zones provide much-needed water for irrigation.

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