Short Answer-Class 10 – Social Science -Geography-Chapter 3 Social Geography Water Resources

Class 10- Short Answer-3- Social Geography Water Resources

Q1. How have intensive industrialization and urbanization posed a great pressure on existing freshwater resources in India? Explain.

Ans : Post independent India witnessed intensive industrialisation and urbanisation.

 a. Arrival of MNC’s: Apart from fresh water they require electricity which comes from hydroelectric power.

b. Multiplying urban centers with large and dense populations and urban life styles have not only added to water and energy requirements, but have further aggravated the problem.

c. Large-scale migration from rural to urban areas is causing over exploitation of water resources.

Q2. Rainwater harvesting system is viable alternative   both socially, economically and environmentally”. Support the statement with three examples.

Ans : a. In hilly and mountainous regions, people build diversion channels like ‘gul’ or ‘kul’ in Western Himalaya for agriculture.

b. Roof-top rainwater harvesting was commonly practised to store drinking water particularly in Rajasthan.

c. In West Bengal, people develop inundation channels to irrigate their fields.

d. In semi-arid regions agricultural fields are converted into rainfed storage structures that allowed the water to stand and moist the soil

Q3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of multipurpose river project.

Ans : Advantages:

a. These are the main source of power generation.

b. They provide us neat, pollution free and cheapest energy which is the backbone of industry and agriculture.

c. These projects control the floods because water can be stored in them. These projects have converted many, ‘rivers of sorrows’ into ‘rivers of boon’.

d.  These projects are the main source of irrigation and also help in conserving soil.

Disadvantages:

 a. Due to the construction of dams, there are no adequate floods in the river. Because of this, the soil of the downstream region does not get nutrient rich silt.

b. Dams also fragment rivers making it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate for spawning, i.e., to produce eggs.

c. It resulted in displacement of local communities. The local people often have to give up their land and livelihood and their meagre access and control over resources for the greater need of the nation.

Q4. Highlight any three hydraulic structures as part of water management programmes initiated in ancient India along with the period when they were built. Sophisticated hydraulic structures like dams built of stone rubble, reservoirs or lakes, embankments and canals for irrigation were built in various regions’ of the country.

a. A sophisticated water harvesting system channelling the flood water of river Ganga was built at Sringaverapura near Allahabad in the 15th century BC.

b. Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh, Bennur in Karnataka, Kolhapur in Maharashtra and Kalinga in Odisha have evidences of irrigation structures.

c. In the 11th century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of its time was built.

d. The tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish in the 14th century to supply water to the Siri Fort Area.

Q5. Why is roof-top water harvesting important in Rajasthan? Explain.

Ans : Roof top water harvesting is important in Rajasthan because:

 a. It was commonly practised to store drinking water.

b. The rainwater can be stored in the tanks till the next rainfall, making it an extremely reliable source of drinking water when all other sources are dried up, particularly in the summers.

c. Rain water, or palar pani, as commonly referred to in these parts, is considered the purest form of natural water.

d. Many houses construct underground rooms adjoining the ‘tanka’ to beat the summer heat as it would keep the room cool.