Geography Long Answer questions (5 Marks)

Jhabua is a backward district in Madhya Pradesh with high tribal population. People suffer due to poverty caused by resource degradation. The watershed management programme funded by the GOI, has helped .in preventing land degradation and improving soil quality. It emphasized on the holistic development with community participation. The WSDP has treated 20% of the area in the district. The Bhils have revitalized large parts of community resource. Each household planted at least one tree. Stall feeding of cattle has been introduced and they have developed pastures which will sustain their cattle as well. The villagers are proud and confident of their common property resources.

Effects of Air Pollution:

• It causes various respiratory diseases like asthma, sore throat, sneezing, allergic rhinitis, smoky fog over the cities commonly known as smog prevails which may lead to accidents.
• Air pollution also causes acid rain.
• It leads to global warming which creates variation in the rhythmic cycle of seasons.
• Depletion of the ozone layer is the result of excessive chlorofluorocarbons and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• It is also responsible for the various skin diseases like, itching of eyes, pimples, etc.

Measures to curb Air Pollution:

• Promote afforestation
• Use electrical appliances with four star or five star ratings.
• Use CNG for automobiles.
• Proper chimney should be installed.

Four pressing environmental concerns in India are:

• Water Contamination: In India drinking water is getting contaminated due to industrial waste. It is leading to water¬borne diseases.
• Air Pollution: Due to urbanisation, the number of vehicles on Indian roads is increasing continously. Number of motor vehicles has increased from 3 lakh in 1951 to 67 crores in 2003. India is one of the ten most industrialised nations of the world but it has happened at the cost of environment which is irreversible.
• Deforestation: India’s forest cover is dwindling continuously due to increasing demand by increasing population. It is increasing air pollution and the problems associated with it. Per capita forest land in India is only 0.08 hectare against a requirement of 0.47 hectare.
• Land Degradation: Land degradation is happening because of loss of vegetation occurring due to deforestation, unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction, encroachment into forest lands, non adoption of adequate soil conservation measures, indiscriminate use of chemicals, improper planning and management of irrigation system. Certainly, correction of environmental degradation involves an opportunity cost in the form of adverse health conditions, poor quality of life in poor environmental conditions and expenditure by government on correcting the harm done by environment.

Dharavi is Asia’s largest slum. There are many contradictory elements.
Negative versus positive aspect of the slum:

• Only one main road traverses the slum, the miscalled ‘ninety-foot road’, which has been reduced to less than half of that for most of its length.
• Some of the side alleys and lanes are so narrow that not even a bicycle can pass. The whole neighborhood consists of temporary buildings, two or three storeyed high with rusty iron stairways to the upper part, where a single room is rented by a whole family, sometimes accommodating twelve or more people.
• On the one hand, in this place of shadowless, treeless sunlight, uncollected garbage, stagnant pools of foul water, where the only non-human creatures are the shining black crows and long grey rats, on the other hand, some of the most beautiful, valuable and useful articles in India are made. From Dharavi come delicate ceramics and pottery, exquisite embroidery and zari work, sophisticated leather goods, high-fashion garments, finely-wrought metalwork, delicate jewellery settings, wood carvings and furniture that would find its way into the richest houses, both in India and abroad.

The pressure on agricultural land increases not only due to the limited availability but also by deterioration of quality of agricultural land. Soil erosion, water¬logging, salinisation and alkalinisation of land lead to land degradation. Though all degraded land may not be wasteland, but unchecked process of degradation may lead to the conversion to wasteland. There are two processes that induce land degradation. These are natural and created by human beings. National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) has classified wastelands by using remote sensing techniques and it is possible to categorizes these wastelands according to the processes that have created them. Some degradation which is caused by natural agents cannot be stopped altogether, but the degraded land can be revived through reclamation processes.
Land degradation like gullied/ ravenous land, desertic or coastal sands, barren rocky areas, steep sloping land, and glacial areas are primarily caused by natural agents. There are other type of degraded land such as waterlogged and marshy areas, land affected by salinity and alkalinity and land with or without scrub, which have largely been caused by natural as well as human factors. There are some other types of wastelands such as degraded shifting cultivation area, degraded land under plantation crops, degraded forests, degraded pastures, and mining and industrial wastelands, are caused by human actions.
Land degradation caused by human activities can be controlled by regulating and improving land use practices. Shifting agriculture and open grazing causes a large area of land to be degraded, therefore shifting cultivation and open grazing should be strictly banned. Regulations on use of fertilizers and other chemicals on the agricultural land should be strengthened. Mining activities, deforestation all leads to land degradation, therefore government needs to put strict checks on these practices. The best way to put a check on the land degradation and land revival is by educating the inhabitants of the area and having community based programmes aimed at checking land degradation and reviving the degraded land. Under the various schemes of governments, and aid of NGOs the community is organized in such a way to use sustainable and organic agricultural practices.
Common property resource is revitalized, and its use is promoted. Planting patches of fodder grass so as to limit open grazing is a crucial step to curtail land degradation. Social fencing of the land leads to feeling of responsibility among the people and therefore protection of land. Therefore community participation with public- government participation is. the best method to contain land degradation. The best example from India for.revival of degraded land is of the Jhabua district in the westernmost agro-climatic zone of Madhya Pradesh.

Urban centers in India are more differentiated in terms of the .social-economic, politico-cultural and other indicators of development than any other areas. They represent social-economic disparities of highest order. On one hand are the highly posh areas with huge farm houses, wide roads, entertainment center and all amenities required for leading a luxurious life, on the other hand are the slum clusters, generally referred to as “jhuggi- jhopris-clusters and colonies of shanty structures. Those people who were forced to migrate from the rural areas to these urban centers in search of livelihood but could not afford proper housing due to high rent and high costs of land inhabit these slums. They occupy environmentally incompatible and degraded areas.
Slums are residential areas of the least choice, dilapidated houses, poor hygienic conditions, poor ventilation, lack of basic amenities like drinking water, light and toilet facilities, etc. These areas are overcrowded having narrow street pattern prone to serious hazards from fire. Moreover, most of the slum population works in low paid, high risk-prone, unorganised sectors of the urban economy. Consequently, they are the undernourished, prone to different types of diseases and illness and can ill afford to give proper education to their children. The poverty makes them vulnerable to drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism, escapism, apathy and ultimately social exclusion.
Dharavi, which is the second largest slum of Asia, shows the extreme miserable and unhygienic conditions of existence. The area is devoid of sanitation and is infested by pests such as rats, causing miserable health conditions of the residents. The lanes of the slum are not wide enough to let a bicycle pass through them. People inhabiting the slum face chronic diseases- both communicable and the ones caused by deficiencies.
The lack of employment opportunities in the rural as well as urban areas of developing nations consistently push the population to urban areas.
The enormous migrant population generates a pool of unskilled and semi skilled labour force, which is already saturated in urban areas. People coming to the slums are affected by the several ills which cities of developing countries face. The available social and economic infrastructure is unable to absorb the additional population. Lack of education, employment and male selective migration tends to increase the crime rates. Due to failing infrastructure, people living in slums are devoid of minimum required quantity of potable water. An improper sewage system creates unhealthy conditions.Massive use of traditional fuel severely pollutes the air.

Water pollution is addition of unwanted and harmful material in the water which renders it harmful for the use of human and degrades the flora and fauna around it. Indiscriminate use of water by increasing population and industrial expansion has led degradation of the quality of water considerably. Surface water available from rivers, canals, lakes, etc. is never pure. It contains small quantities of suspended particles, organic and inorganic substances. When concentration of these substances increases, the water becomes polluted, and hence becomes unfit for use. In such a situation, the self-purifying capacity of water is unable to purify the water.
Although water pollutants are also created from natural sources (erosion, landslides, decay and decomposition of plants and animals, etc.). Pollutants from human sources are the real causes of concern. Human beings pollute the water through industrial, agricultural and cultural activities. Among these activities, industry is the most significant contributor. Industries produce several undesirable products including industrial wastes, polluted waste water, poisonous gases, chemical residuals, numerous heavy metals, dust, smoke, etc. Most of the industrial wastes are disposed off in running water or lakes. Consequently, poisonous elements reach the reservoirs, rivers and other water bodies, which destroy the bio-system of these waters. Major water polluting industries are leather, pulp and paper, textiles and chemicals.
Various types of chemicals used in modern agriculture such as inorganic fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides are also pollution generating components. These chemicals are washed down to rivers, lakes and tanks. These chemicals also infiltrate the soil to reach the ground water. Fertiliser induces an increase in the nitrate content of surface waters. Cultural activities such as pilgrimage, religious fairs, tourism, etc. also cause water pollution. In India, almost all surface water sources are contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Also the overutilization of groundwater resources in India has led to groundwater depletion and also increased concentration of Arsenic in many parts of West Bengal and Bihar.
Domestic waste which includes sewage and other household waste also adds on to the pollution of water. Water pollution is a source of various water borne diseases. The diseases commonly caused due to contaminated water are diarrhea, intestinal worms, hepatitis, etc. World Health Organisation shows that about one-fourth of the communicable diseases in India are water-borne.

Solid waste refers to a variety of old and used articles, For example stained small pieces of metals, broken glasswares, plastic containers, polythene bags, ashes, floppies, CD’s, etc. dumped at different places. Environmental pollution by solid wastes has now got significance because of enormous growth in the quantity of wastes generated from various sources. The huge turn out of ashes and debris from industries, thermal power houses and building constructions or demolitions have posed problems of serious consequences. Solid wastes cause health hazard through creation of obnoxious smell, and harbouring of flies and rodents, which act as carriers of diseases like typhoid, diphtheria, diarrhoea, malaria and cholera, etc.
These wastes cause frequent nuisance as and when these are carelessly handled, spread by wind and splittered through rain water. Concentration of industrial units in and around urban centres gives rise to disposal of industrial wastes. The dumping of industrial waste into rivers leads to water pollution. River pollution from city-based industries and untreated sewage leads to serious health problems downstream. 50 per cent of the waste generated are left uncollected which accumulate on streets, in open spaces between houses and in wastelands leading to serious health hazards. Untreated wastes ferment slowly and release toxic biogas to the atmosphere, including methane. Land is limited in urban centres so looking for landfill to dump the waste generated in urban centres is a major problem.