GEOGRAPHY NEWS-LETTER a Fortnightly Ini A Ve!
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
2nd Edion #02 GEOGRAPHY NEWS-LETTER A Fortnightly Iniave! An Initiative to upgrade the Discipline of Geography TOPICS: for CSE Exam & to observe Water Scarcity In India the Surroundings via Forest Fires All About EIA Geographical Lens. Prelims Corner-2021 011-45586829 9718793363 9540226688 www.guidanceias.com From Director's Desk… Dear CSE Aspirants [Not TVF Aspirants], CSE Prelims has been postponed to 10th October 2021. We got many calls, messages from students aer the postponement of Prelims exam. The only thing, I can infer is that many of you are full of Anxiety, Nervousness, and geng impaent with respect to your Preparaon. The mes of Pandemic can be a genuine reason for all of this. However, it is me to not lose your Nerves, to hold your ground with convicon and courage. And not to succumb to the Negavity and Helplessness prevailing. Remember Prelims'21 postponement gives an opportunity to prepare Prelims and Mains in the most integrated manner. But this requires changes in the way we see our Preparaon Horizon and calls for a renewed strategy. Therefore, you can prepare for Mains in the next 2 months and get an extra edge in Mains'21 exam, by giving due focus to your Oponal, Essay and Ethics Paper along with other G.S. Papers. Now aer Taking rest for few days. It's me to Re- Strategize and Re-Orient your Preparaon now. Give a truthful check to your Strengths and Weaknesses. Be Mindful!!! With Compeon just geng harder and trickier. Here are some of the ps: Ø Keep revising your strong areas from sources you have already read. Don't add new sources. Ø Keep praccing more and more MCQs to make your strong areas stronger. Ø Try to master your weak areas during this me by praccing more and more MCQs, especially those who were not prey confident with respect to Prelims. Ø Don't ignore current affairs. You need to cover CA from prelims perspecve ll Mid- September and start preparing from Main's perspecve now as most likely gap between Prelims and Mains will be reduced. Remember, don't be impaent, hard on yourself! It takes me to design and strategize the courses keeping in mind the present realies. Well going ahead, Guidance IAS has come up with following Programmes: Geography Oponal 500+ programme. 120+ Applied Answer wring Programme. Geography oponal Test series (Discussions included). Geography Oponal Foundaon course. NCERT preparatory Classes. All-important outlines for the Programmes and detailed strategy in the renewed scenario has been dealt in a logical and doable manner on our YouTube Channel. Do watch it! Till next me. Work Smart, Pracce Harder!!! All the Best. Himanshu Sharma GEOGRAPHY NEWSLETTER 02 A Fortnightly Iniave! By Himanshu Sir #1 Topic - WATER SCARCITY IN INDIA INTRODUCTION Ø Water Scarcity is either the lack of enough water (quanty) or lack of access to safe water (quality). Ø There are two types of WATER SCARCITY - Physical & Economic Scarcity. Economic water scarcity Physical scarcity of water A situation where human, institutional, and A situation in which water resources financial capital limit access to water even development is approaching or has exceeded though water in nature is available locally to sustainable limits. In this situation the supply meet human demands. of water for human needs and the ecosystem is not nearly equal to the demand. Economic scarcity of water is characterised by It often arises in dry, arid regions. It could also insufficient investment in infrastructure meant happen in areas where there is enough water to supply and distribute water equitably in but just not enough to meet the growing needs areas where inhabitants do not have the of the human population like irrigation and monetary wherewithal to use a source of water energy generation for which there is that is adequate for them. overdevelopment of hydraulic infrastructure. Ø In India, both Physical and Economic Scarcity manifest from a variety of geophysical, socio-economic and polical factors. Ø The problem of water scarcity in India is a growing one. As more people put ever-increasing demands on limited supplies, the cost and effort to build or even maintain access to water will increase. And water's importance to polical and social stability will only grow with the crisis. Ø Areas facing Economic Scarcity include the dry land areas of India(lack of local harvesng), areas where surface run off is not checked like Western slopes of Deccan and Meghalaya Plateau etc.( lack of infrastructure) and also those areas having poor governance/ infrastructure. Ø Areas facing Physical Scarcity include those regions where ground water tables have gone rapidly due to excessive pumping and surface water is under stress due to irrigaon - Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan Gujarat. Deccan Plateau Interiors, Rayalaseema, Marusthali, Northern Karnataka etc. suffer from it due to Subdued rains. 01 011-45586829, 9718793363 website: www.guidanceias.com . ASSESSING WATER SCARCITY • Typically water scarcity is assessed by looking at the populaon-water equaon. • This is done by comparing the amount of total available water resources per year to the populaon of a country or region. • The problem is deeply enrooted in India, Water Stress - a Two Fold Situaon which hosts 17% of the world's populaon for only 4% of the global water resources. The demand for water When the poor quality exceeds the current of water restricts its us • India is placed thirteenth among the world's available resource 17 'extremely water-stressed' countries, according to the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas released by the World Resources Instute High Water Stress Areas (WRI). coincide with those having • Considering the high physical scarcity or approaching it.. amount of Water Stress, India is increasingly gravitang towards an eminent Water crisis when there will not enough Water to share in healthy levels. (Ex - The Shimla water crisis of 2 0 1 8 w h e r e i n t h e demand was of around 45 M L D w h e r e a s t h e installed capacity was of only 35 MLD). • Water availability per person is dependent on populaon of the country and for India, per capita water availability in the country is reducing due to increase in populaon. • The average annual per capita water availability in the years 2001 and 2011 was assessed as 1816 cubic meters and 1545 cubic meters respecvely which may further reduce to 1486 cubic meters and 1367 cubic meters in the years 2021 and 2031 respecvely. • The average annual per capita water availability is bound to decrease in coming years due to following factors- 1. Global warming has altered the rainfall paern in India dramacally. Previously, average monsoon rainfall spanned 45 days. This number has now decreased to 22 days, with each monsoon having a smaller intensity of rain. 2. Construcon of dams, other hydroelectric projects, and water diversion for irrigaon has led to systemacally destroying large river ecosystems. 3. India uses more groundwater than any other country in the world and groundwater exploitaon has causes accelerated drying of aquifers. The total groundwater used for irrigaon has risen from 30% in the 1980s to nearly 60% today. 02 011-45586829, 9718793363 website: www.guidanceias.com (India, the world's largest groundwater user, is seeing levels declining across the country with farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan facing the prospect of having no groundwater le for irrigaon by 2025. Groundwater, the source of 40% of India's water needs, is depleng at an unsustainable rate, according to Ni Aayog. India accounts for 12% of global groundwater extracon, pumping some 230 billion cubic metres each year. At this rate, by 2030, nearly 60% of the aquifers will be in a crical state.In addion to irrigaon, groundwater exploitaon has also resulted from rapid urbanisaon as well as extreme groundwater usage by so drink companies such as Coca-Cola.) 4. River basins, catchments, and watersheds have not been properly ulised for water and soil conservaon purpose, which in turn affect the hydrology of the river basins. 5. Despite being a populous country with a diverse geography and climate, India does not have a comprehensive water policy. There are no proper guidelines available for usage of surface water and groundwater by different sectors and different states. 6. Culvaon of Water Intensive Crops in Water Stressed regions like Marathwada (Sugarcane), Rice and Wheat in the GR belt is bound to deplete surface and groundwater water resources adding to ecological problems like soil alkalisaon. Marathwada Case Study In 2018-19, Marathwada produced 14.7 million metric tonnes of sugarcane out of the state's producon of 91.7 million metric tonnes. Sugarcane occupies 5.74% of Marathwada's total culvable area which is also 28% of its total irrigated area. Across Maharashtra, it occupies 4% of farms and consumes 70% of the irrigated water. The total drinking water requirement for Marathwada is at 590 mm3 annually, and the average water consumpon of sugarcane at 6,159 mm3 – more than 10 mes the drinking water requirement. If 50% of sugarcane area were brought under drip irrigaon, it would save 3,080 mm3 of water, which is more than the storage capacity of Marathwada's biggest dam – the Jayakwadi Dam (2,909 mm3).If things connue unchanged, water-stressed regions such as Marathwada could be heading towards deserficaon.More than 85% of Maharashtra's land consists of hard rock. It has lile water-carrying capacity and its permeability is limited. Culvang 12- month crops like sugarcane, we are extracng groundwater through borewells round the year which is adverse for environment). 7. Overall, mismanagement and lack of governance has led to the water crisis spreading from the southern regions of the peninsula to the northern, water-rich Himalayan regions.