Question

Explain any three human activities responsible for land degradation in India.

CBSE Class X Social Science SA ( 3 marks)

Answer 1

(a) Mining : Mining sites are abandoned after excavation work is complete leaving deep scars in states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Deforestation due to mining has caused severe land degradation.
(b) Over irrigation : Over irrigation in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, has caused water logging and increase in salinity of soil.
(c) Overgrazing : Overgrazing in states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra is a huge cause due to cattle population.
(d) Industries : Mineral processing industry like grinding of limestone for cement industry and calcite and soapstone for ceramic industry generate huge quantity of dust, this retards the process of infiltration of water into the soil.
(e) Industrial Waste : Industrial effluents also have become a major source of land degradation.

Answer 2

The three human activities responsible for the land degradation in India are :

1.  Deforestation : The cutting of tress by the people in India is one of the reasons of land degradation. It leads to the erosion of land and desertification and thus the land becomes waste or less fertile.

2.  Over-Irrigation : This human activity also leads to land degradation. Over-Irrigation leads to water-logging and consequentially salinisation and alkalinisation of soli.

3.  Land Pollution : The people in India dispose improperly their home wastes and industrial wastes and effluents which made the land waste and less fertile.