Countries irrigated by an adequate river system are in many ways blessed. These rivers not only help agriculture, but they provide a cheap and efficient transport system for the development of internal trade.
The saying goes—land divides, seas unite. But waterways bring also a good deal of misery to the people by causing devastating seasonal floods In India, for example, the sub-Himalayan regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Assam are heavily flooded by the rivers of the Gengetic basin and the Brahmaputra, almost every rainy season. It brings untold sufferings to the people of these low-lying plains.
Millions are rendered homeless; men and cattle die in large numbers; the damage to property including standing crops is incalculable. Besides, floods affect the health of the locality and increase the incidence of cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases. In 1922 and 1998 flood in North Bengal left a trail of devastation, essentially in Malda, Murshidabad areas.
