Geo ch 1 Resources and development

 Geo Ch 1 Resources and development

20/04/21

Land as Resource

Our past generation left land for us without exploiting them too much and it is expected from us too. We fulfill most of our needs from land, such as food, clothing, shelter, drinking water, etc. But in past few decades the quality of land is degrading fiercely because of human activity. Many human activities aggravated the natural forces which are, in turn, degrading the land resources also.

Presently, about 130 million hectare of land is reported under degraded land in India, in which about 28% of land belongs to forest and about 28% is water eroded area. Rest degraded land is because of over deposition of salinity and alkalinity. Overgrazing, mining, deforestation, division of lands in small area because of family feuds, etc. are some of the major causes of degradation of land.

Because of mining in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh; lands are left abandoned without proper treatment after the completion of mining works. This has resulted in the form of deep scars and traces. Along with mining, deforestation in these states has degraded the land very fast.

In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, over irrigation causes water shortage and increase in salinity and alkalinity due to water logging.

In Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, land is degraded because of flood.

States, in which minerals processing, such as grinding of lime stone, manufacturing of cement, etc. produce huge quantity of dust. These dusts prevent the percolation of water because of deposition on the ground and it is responsible for degradation of land.

The degradation of land creates many problems, such as flood, decrease in yield, etc. which leads to decrease in GDP and country has to face economic problems.

Measures to Conserve the Land Resources:

Degradation of land can be prevented by taking following measures:

Afforestation

Proper management of grazing.

Stabilisation of sand dunes by plantation of thorny bushes.

Proper management of waste lands.

By proper irrigation.

By proper harvesting.

Control over mining activities.

Proper management of land after completion of mining work.

Discharge of industrial waste and effluents only after proper treatment.

Plantation of trees along the road sides.

By preventing deforestation.

Soil as a natural resource:

Soil is one of the most important natural resources. Soil supports the growth of plants. Soil is the natural home of many living organism, such as ants, rats, snakes, and many insects.

Formation of Soil: It takes thousands of years to form even 1 cm of soil. Soil is formed by the weathering process of the rocks. Various natural forces, such as temperature, running water, wind, etc. along with many physical and chemical changes are equally important in the formation of soil formation.

H.W.

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