Paragraph on “Why do we build dams?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

Why do we build dams?

Man-made dams are large walls built across rivers or lakes so that the water builds up on one side of them. The water can be let out of the dams if required. Dams are useful to us in many ways.

We need water to drink and to grow our food but in many parts of the world, at different times, there is sometimes too much water and sometimes too little. Dams can stop and store flood water. This can then be let out slowly and used to irrigate the surrounding land.

If part of a river is too shallow for ships too shallow for ships to get through, it can be dammed. The water building up behind the dam makes the river deep enough for the ships to get through.

Locks are used to connect the dammed water with the rest of the river.

Dams are built for other reasons as well, the most important of which is to produce electric power.

The first man-made dam we know of was built over 3,500 years ago in Egypt. This was very small in comparison with some of the dams we have now. A dam built recently in India is over 25 km (15.5 miles) long!