Question

how have technical and economic development led to more consumption of resources

Answer 1

(i) Land resources in India are primarily divided into agricultural land, forest land, land meant for pasture and grazing, and waste land. Waste land includes rocky, arid and desert areas, and land used for other non-agricultural purposes such as housing, roads and industry. According to the recent data, about 54% of the total land area is cultivable or fallow, 22.5% is covered by forests, and 3.45% is used for grazing. The rest is waste land, with traces of miscellaneous cultivation.
The land under forest has not increased since 1960–61 because in the post-independence era demand for more land to expand agriculture, mainly after Green Revolution, developmental works and infrastructural facilities, led to clearance of forests areas. Industrialisation and urbanisation also decreased the forest area. Thus, land under forest has increased by only about 4% since 1960-61.