Social Studies [5 marks Questions]

The above given pictures depict the problems for people living in mountains. These are discussed below
(i) Flash Flood Flash flood is the sudden flood in a local region due to cloud burst. Sudden heavy rain can quickly turn mountain streams into dangerous floods. It can damage homes and roads.
(ii) Uncontrolled Tourism Too many visitors can put pressure on local resources and disturb mountain ecosystems, harming both the environment and local communities.
(iii) Landslide Soil and rocks sliding down slopes can destroy homes and block roads in mountain areas.
(iv) Avalanches It is a landslide due to heavy snowfall. Large snow slides can damage villages and disrupt travel in snowy mountain regions.
(v) Heavy Snowfall Excessive snow can block roads, limit access, and cause damage to houses in mountain areas.
(vi) Cloudburst Intense, short bursts of rain can lead to sudden floods and erosion in mountainous regions.
(vii) Cold Weather Extremely cold temperatures can make daily life and travel very difficult in the mountains.
People still prefer to live in mountainous regions because they are sacred to them. Mountains are a great source of tourism activity and many more natural resources.

The major types of landforms are the mountains, the plateaus and the plains.
• Mountains : Mountains are the land- forms that are much higher than the surrounding landscape. Depending on their height, some mountains are covered with snow. At lower altitudes, the snow melts eveiy summer and turns into water that feeds rivers. At high altitudes, the snow may never melt, leaving the mountain permanently snow-capped.
• Plateaus : A plateau is a land form that rises up from the surrounding land and has a more or less flat surface; some of its slides are often steep slopes. Tibetan Plateau is the largest and highest plateau in the world. Plateaus are the 'store house of minerals'. Mining is the major activity on plateaus where many of the world's largest mines are found.
• Plains : Plains are the landforms that have an extensive flat or gently undulating surface. They donot have any large hills. They are generally not more than 300 metres above the sea level. Significance of mountains, plateaus and plains in human life and culture.

Mountains :

• Mountain regions has rich flora and fauna.
• Most of the mountain regions has almost very low pollution.
• Regular farming is practised on the slopes by cutting steps into the slope called terrace farming.
• Tourism is often an important source of income for the people living in the mountains.
• The crisp mountain air and scenic beauty attracts many tourists.

Plateaus :

• Plateaus have rich mineral deposits.
• Many of the mining areas in the world are located in the plateau regions.
• For e.g. the African plateau is famous for gold and diamond mining.
• The Chhota Nagpur plateau in India has huge reserves of Iron, Coal etc.
• The Plateau environment is very diverse across the world. Many Plateaus have a rocky soil, which makes them less favourable for farming.
• Plateaus are the home to many spectacular water falls.
Plains: Thousands of years ago, the first civilisations developed around rivers in fertile plains. In our times too, a large part of the worlds population lives in plains. Most of the big cities around the world are based near the river bed.
• Plains in many areas are important for doing agriculture work on a large scale.
• Plains have a gentle slope, river navigation is easy and supports a lot of economic activities.
• Even today these are stretches along Ganga where people prefer to use boats to move around.