Question 3: Answer the following questions in about 120 words.
i) Explain land use pattern in India and why has the land under forest not increased much since 1960-619?
ii) How have technical and economic development led to more consumption of resources?
Answer:
i) In India, the land is primarily used for agriculture, forest, grazing and other activities like housing, roads and industries. Waste land includes rocky, arid and desert areas. The pattern of the net sown area varies from one state to another state depending upon the climate and soil types. According to the recent data, about 54% of the total land area is cultivable or fallow about 80% of the total area in Punjab and Haryana is used for cultivation while in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Andaman Nicobar Islands, It is even less than 10%, forest is covered in India is about 22%.
The increased use of land for agricultural activities industrialisation, urbanisation and improper uses of forest land has degraded the available land area and has made conservation of forest difficult. Increasing population and subsequent increase in demand for resources resulted in the degradation of forest The land under forest has increased by only about 4% since 1960-61.
ii) Various factors are responsible for technical and economic development leading to more consumption of resources.
- Economic development raised people's demands and the technological advancement led to greater exploitation of resources to meet their demands.
- In colonial times, imperial powers would use their technological and economic superiority to establish control over other countries and thereby gain access to the latter's resources, Now, one country's resources became accessible to the citizens of its colonial ruler too, leading to increased consumption.
- Technological development led to efficient machinery. As a result, production increased ultimately leading to the consumption of more resources.
- Improved medical and health resources led to increased population which in turn resulted in increased consumption of resources.
Add Comment