Himanshu and his friend Venu went for boating in a lake where they saw floating aquatic plant water hyacinth in many parts of the lake. Himanshu wanted to take this plant and introduce it in the lake of his farm house but Venu advised him not to do so.(i) Why did Himanshu want to introduce this plant in the lake of his farmhouse?(ii) Mention any two reasons why Venu did not like the idea.
Answers
Answer:
By forming a dense layer across the surface of ponds, lakes or even rivers, water hyacinths restrict sunlight penetration that is required by the underwater fauna for sustenance.
This amounts to a state of absolute decay and the plants eventually die out. What follows is the trickling down of dissolved oxygen levels, which ends up killing the fishes and other aquatic beings in the water bodies.
The impenetrable foliage also stands infamous for being the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, owing to a low oxygen region right below the floating mass.
Like the mystical Neelakurinji flower, which carpets the Nilgiris every twelve years with its purple foliage, the water hyacinth also manages to catch the eye of passers-by with its dense spread of beautiful purple flowers.
But don’t let its vibrant hues fool you, for the plant happens to be one of the most noxious aquatic weeds in the world with its toxic ability to engulf vast expanses at an exponential pace and making inland navigation almost impossible.
Explanation:
By forming a dense layer across the surface of ponds, lakes or even rivers, water hyacinths restrict sunlight penetration that is required by the underwater fauna for sustenance.
This amounts to a state of absolute decay and the plants eventually die out. What follows is the trickling down of dissolved oxygen levels, which ends up killing the fishes and other aquatic beings in the water bodies.
The impenetrable foliage also stands infamous for being the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, owing to a low oxygen region right below the floating mass.