Floods and famines are the two natural calamities that regularly trouble our country. Not a year passes without the hardship and sufferings caused by these in one or the other part of the country.
Floods are generally caused by torrential rain. When the water is more in the rivers than they can carry, it spills over the banks. The floods main reason in the modern times has been silting of the river-beds. The extra silting is caused by the top-soil brought in by the rain water. Excessive cutting of the trees loosens the soil and this soil silts the river bed as much as to raise their level. This decreases the capacity of the river beds to hold more water. And thus the floods result.
The best way to eliminate excessive floods is to keep the trees intact on the soil. Also, the desilting of the river bed should also be done regularly. Thankfully the Government is aware of these facts and doing the same.
Famines are caused by lack of rainfall. This leads to failure of crops and much other damage to life and property. There is no human remedy to save ourselves from famines till some time back. But today, more and more trees are being planted in famine areas, rivers, waters are being cleared and rain harvesting ponds are also being made.