General
Studies Paper 3
Q.No.4. Elaborate on the impact of the National Watershed Project in
increasing agricultural production from water-stressed areas. (150 words; 10
Marks)
Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee
Yojna (Watershed Development Component) (WDC-PMKSY)
The main objectives of the WDC-PMKSY are to restore
the ecological balance by harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural
resources such as soil, vegetative cover and water. The outcomes are prevention
of soil erosion, regeneration of natural vegetation, rain water harvesting and
recharging of the ground water table. This enables multi-cropping and the
introduction of diverse agro-based activities, which help to provide
sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the watershed area.
Neeranchal Watershed Programme
Neeranchal is a World Bank assisted National Watershed
Management Project. Neeranchal is designed to further strengthen and provide
technical assistance to the WDC-PMKSY. The programme is being implemented in
nine participating states - Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.
For achieving the major objectives of the WDC-PMKSY
and for ensuring access to irrigation to every farm (Har Khet Ko Pani) and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop),
Neeranchal is primarily designed to address the following concerns:
- Bring
about institutional changes in watershed and rainfed agricultural
management practices in India.
- Build
systems that ensure watershed programmes and rainfed irrigation management
practices are better focused, and more coordinated, and have quantifiable
results.
- Devise
strategies for the sustainability of
improved watershed management practices in programme areas, even after the
withdrawal of project support.
- Support,
through the watershed plus approach, support improved equity,
livelihoods, and incomes through forward linkages, on a platform of
inclusiveness and local participation.
(The topic of water resources is discussed in
Chapter 7 of my book.)
Q.No.7. Coastal sand mining, whether legal or illegal, poses one
of the biggest threats to our environment. Analyse the impact of sand mining
along the Indian coasts, citing specific examples. (150 words; 10 Marks)
Coastal
sand mining has the following deleterious effects on the coastal ecology:
- Causes erosion along many shorelines - beaches become narrower.
- Damages the beach fauna and flora and destroys biodiversity.
- Leads to loss of habitats for many species.
- Causes environmental damage to other coastal ecosystems associated with the beach such as wetlands.
- Results in the loss of protection from storms surges associated with tropical cyclones and tsunamis. Some communities affected by the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean had higher storm surges (very likely due to beach sand mining) resulting in increased fatalities.
- Ruins the beauty of the beaches leading to economic loss due to reduced tourism.
- Encourages the formation of sand mafia, corruption, and crime.
Coastal
mining of sand is particularly harmful in a time of rising sea levels when sand
is sorely needed as a storm energy buffer.
(The topic of coastal zone is discussed in
Chapter 6 of my book.)
Q.No.8. Vulnerability is an essential element for defining disaster
impacts and its threat to people. How and in what ways can vulnerability to
disasters be characterized? Discuss different types of vulnerability with
reference to disasters. (150 words; 10 Marks)
Vulnerability has been defined as a set of prevailing
conditions which adversely affect a community’s ability to prevent, mitigate,
prepare for or respond to a disaster. Vulnerability
is often identified with poverty. But being poor is not synonymous with being
vulnerable, and being rich is not being non-vulnerable. A well informed and
prepared poor family may be less vulnerable to earthquake than a rich family
that is not well-informed and well-prepared.
There are four types of vulnerability:
Physical Vulnerability: This is related to the geographic proximity to the source
and origin of the disaster. For example, if an area lies near the coast lines,
fault lines, unstable hills, etc., it makes the area more vulnerable to
disasters as compared to an area that is far away from the origin of the
disaster. Physical vulnerability includes the difficulty in access to water resources, means of
communications, hospitals, police stations, fire brigades, roads, bridges and
exits of a building, etc., in case of disasters.
Economic Vulnerability: This can be assessed by determining how
varied the community’s sources of income are, the ease of access and control
over means of production (e.g. farmland, livestock, irrigation, capital etc.),
adequacy of economic fall back mechanisms and the availability of natural
resources in the area.
Social Vulnerability: This is related to social factors such as
leadership. A socially vulnerable community has weak or no leadership for decision making and
conflict resolution. Similarly, a community in which people are discriminated on racial, ethnic,
linguistic or religious basis is socially vulnerable.
Social vulnerability to disasters is greatest among
the poorest people in developing countries owing to a lack of information and
resources with which to take the appropriate measures. Within this group,
children, women and the elderly are considered to be the most vulnerable.
Attitudinal Vulnerability: This is related to a community’s attitude towards taking
initiatives and making changes. A community that is poor in these traits is
dependent on external support and does not quick decisions by itself. The
members become victims of conflicts, hopelessness and pessimism which reduces
their capacity of coping with a disaster.
(The topic of disasters and disaster
management is discussed in Chapter 14 of my book.)
Q.No.16. How can biotechnology improve the living standards of farmers?
(250 words; 15 Marks)
Biotechnology uses living organisms to
make useful products such as new seeds. Traditionally, what farmers were doing
– choosing the best strains to increase yields, cross breeding plants, etc. –
could be termed as biotechnology. But their experiments took many years. Today,
however, biotechnology is practiced in the laboratory and creates thousands of
new products including new seeds in a relatively short time. Biotechnology can provide
to farmers seeds that are resistant to pests, drought, salinity, climate
change, etc.
Genetic Modification (GM) is the direct modification of the genetic makeup of an organism by
introducing foreign genes into the gene pool of the organism. GM can make a
plant resistant to specific pests or diseases. Bt Cotton and Bt Brinjal are
examples. Bt stands for the bacterium Bacillus
thuringiensis, which acts as a microbial pesticide. Each strain of this
bacterium specifically kills one or a few related species of insect larvae.
Scientists introduce the Bt gene into the plant's own genetic material. Then
the plant manufactures the substance that destroys the pest.
GM can also
produce new varieties of plants with some desired characteristics, such as
higher nutritive value, herbicide tolerance, virus tolerance, resistance to
drought and salinity, longer shelf life, etc. Thus, biotechnology can have the
following benefits to farmers:
- Plants will be resistant to pests, droughts, water salinity, and even climate change.
- There will be a reduction in the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
Terminator Technology is the
genetic modification of plants to make them produce sterile seeds (also called
suicide seeds). Arguments of biotech companies such as Monsanto in favour of Terminator
seeds are:
- The seeds could be made to have special traits such as male sterility, drought or insect resistance, time of seed germination, or flower development.
- Farmers will still have the option to use the traditional varieties, which having no protection system.
- The new technology will encourage plant breeders to invest and develop new varieties of crop.
- It will provide the farmers access to continuous development of new improved cultivars.
Activists and
NGOs, however, have raised several issues about biotechnology such as the control
of corporations over farmers and their activities, unforeseen and dangerous
consequences, loss of traditional biodiversity, etc.
(The topic of biotechnology is discussed in
Chapter 8 of my book.)
Q.No.17. Define the concept of carrying capacity of an ecosystem as
relevant to an environment. Explain how understanding this concept is vital
while planning for sustainable development of a region. (250 words; 15 Marks)
The Carrying
Capacity of a given area is the maximum population of a specific species that
it can support. We can calculate the Carrying Capacity of those non-human
species that have consistent consumption needs. But it is difficult to estimate
the Carrying Capacity of the earth with regard to human population. That is
because human ‘wants’ (as distinct from ‘needs’) and resource consumption change
over time and space. As a person becomes richer, for example, he begins
consuming more.
The concept of
Carrying Capacity is closely related to that of the Ecological Footprint. The
latter measures what has already happened. Ecological Footprint answers the
question: How much land was necessary to support the global population in a
given year, under that year’s standard of living, biological production, and
technology? Obviously, this takes into account the changing consumption
patterns of people.
Sustainable development has been defined as
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs. An understanding of Carrying Capacity and Ecological Footprint is vital while planning for sustainable development of a
region. Here are two examples:
- The Carrying Capacity of a city’s geographical area is limited with regard to the size of population it can sustain. This is because we have to meet the needs and wants of the population such as housing, water, food sources, energy, waste disposal, transport options, roads, recreational facilities, and so on.
- While notifying an elephant reserve, its Carrying Capacity must be considered. Elephants need food, water, and space to move. Thus there is a limit to how many elephants a given area (with its geographical and ecological features) can support indefinitely.
(While the topic of Carrying Capacity is
discussed in Chapter 1 of my book, the concept of sustainable development is
covered in Chapter 17.)
Q.No.18. Disaster preparedness is the first step in any disaster management process. Explain
how hazard zonation mapping will help in disaster mitigation in the case of
landslides. (250 words; 15 Marks)
Landslide hazard zonation
refers to the division of the land in homogeneous areas or domains and their
ranking according to degrees of actual / potential hazard caused by mass
movement. An ideal landslide hazard map shows not only the chances
that a landslide may form at a particular place, but also the chance that it
may travel downslope a given distance.
Hazard
zonation maps are useful in mitigating the impact of landslides in the
following ways:
- Ahead of the monsoon, the vulnerable zones can be strengthened to prevent landslides.
- People living on the slopes of vulnerable areas can be evacuated ahead of heavy rains; they can also be persuaded to move permanently from that area.
- Rules can be formed to prohibit construction work on the downside of hazard zones.
- Warning signs can be put up in hazard zones so that, during monsoon, vehicle drivers are careful in such zones or even avoid them.
- Focused afforestation above hazard zones would reduce or prevent landslides in the long run.
(The topic of disasters and disaster
management is discussed in Chapter 14 of my book.)
