Water Resources

Question 1.
What is irrigation?
Answer:
Irrigation refers to the process of watering of agricultural plants through artificial
means from wells, tanks, tube wells, canals etc.

Question 2.
Why is irrigation necessary for a country like India?
Question
Irrigation necessary for a country like India due to the following reasons:

 Irrigation is required as rainfall is erratic, sporadic and unevenly distributed.

 Irrigation is required to grow crops like rice and jute require more water
than supplied by rain.
 Irrigation is required to grow crops throughout the year as rainfall is
seasonal.
 Irrigation is required to increase agricultural output by providing the right
amount of water at the right time.

Question 3.
State the different methods of irrigation.
Answer:
The different methods of Irrigation given below:

Question 4.
Of the two types of canal irrigation, which do you think is better? Why?
Answer:
Two types of canal Irrigation are:

1. Inundation canals
2. Perennial canals

Perennial canals are preferred over inundation canals as these (perennial) over
canals are taken out from the perennial rivers by constructing berrages to
regulate the flow of water. Most of the cause in India belong to this category.

Question 5.
What is tank Irriagtion?
Answer:
Tank Irrigation is useful in the areas which are dependent on rainfall for their
water supply.
Tanks are constructed in the areas of natural depression by building earthen
embankments or masonry walls to collect water. This water is used in dry season.

 In India, about 12% of the total irrigated area is done by the tanks.
 Tanks are used mostly in peninsular India, where the underlying hard rocks
do not allow the water to seep through.

Question 6.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of tank irrigation?
Answer:
Advantages of Tank Irrigation:

 Tank Irrigation is cheaper than other type of irrigation as the rainwater is

collected in natural pits and depressions winch are easily available in
peninsular India
 As the water is collected and used in dry season, it uses the water table of
the surrounding region.
 The tank water is used for domestic purposes in villages.

Disadvantages:
  Tanks get silted up soon and regular desalting is required to make these
suitable for irrigation.
 When the monsoons fail they go dry and therefore, are not dependable
source of irrigation.

Question 7.
Where are tanks most widely used and why?
Answer:
Tanks are most widely used in India (more in South India than in North India, in
states like Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) because of the
following reasons:

 Most of the area of peninsular India is uneven with many natural

depressions where the tanks can be built.
 The Deccan Plateau consists of underlying hard rocks which are impervious
or non-porous.
These rocks do not allow the water to seep through.
 Peninsular India receives monsoon type of climate.
Hence, these tanks collect water during rainy season and help in raising the
water table.

Question 8.
Of the two types of wells, which is the best and why?
Answer:
There two types of wells:

1. Surface Wells
2. Tube Wells

Tube Wells is the best than Surface Wells due to the following reasons:

 Tube Wells are very useful during drought conditions when Surface Wells
dry up.
 They can irrigate a larger area (about 400 hectares) as compared to Surface
Wells.
 They occupy less area as compared to Surface Wells.
Question 9.
Name two states where tank irrigation and well irrigation is practised.
Answer:
Well Irrigation is used in India in states like Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Haryana,
Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Well Irrigation is used in India in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Question 10.
Name two methods of drawing water from the well.
Answer:
Two methods of drawing water from the well are:

1. Tube Well Irrigation

2. Surface Well Irrigation

Question 11.
Despite big river projects, irrigation through groundwater has still been growing
in popularity. Why is this ?
Answer:
Despite big river projects, irrigation through groundwater has still been growing
in popularity due to the following reasons:

 The distribution of groundwater is very uneven in India.

 Coastal regions are usually rich in groundwater owing to the largely alluvial
terrain.
 Due to highly variable nature of climate, groundwater has become a
popular alternative for irrigation and domestic water use across India.

Question 12.
For an Indian farmer state two advantages that well irrigation has over canal
irrigation.
Answer:
Advantages of Well Irrigation over Canal Irrigation are given following:

 Well is an independent source of irrigation and can be used as and when

the necessity arises. Canal irrigation, on the other hand, is controlled by
other agencies and cannot be used at will.
  There is a limit of to the extent of Canal irrigation, while a Well can be dug
at any convenient place.
 The farmer has to pay regularly for Canal irrigation which is not the case in
Well irrigation.

Question 13.
What is the difference between surface water resource and groundwater
resource? State two advantages of each.
Answer:
Surface Water Resource:
Surface water is available on the surface of the earth in the form of rivers, lakes,
ponds and canals.

Advantages of Surface Water:

 A good part of its lost through the process of evaporation and plant
transpiration.
 In contrast the rivers of the peninsular India are seasonal. They carry no or
very little water in the dry summer season.

Groundwater Resource:
The part of rainwater that seeps through the cracks and crevices into the ground
is called groundwater.

Advantages of Groundwater:

 Due to the highly variable nature of climate, groundwater has become a

popular alternative for irrigation and domestic water sue across India.
 In addition to being accessible, groundwater quality is generally excellent
in most area and present a relatively safe source of drinking water for
Indians in rural and urban areas.

Question 14.
Name two important canal systems each in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Answer:
Uttar Pradesh – Upper Ganga Canal and Agra Canal.
Punjab – Nangal Canal and Sirhind Canal.
Question 15.
Irrigation in India faces many problems. State any two such problems.
Answer:
Irrigation in India faces following problems:

 Uneven and uncertain distribution of rainfall.

 The ever increasing population in India leads to the demand of even more
intensive agriculture. This needs more and enhanced irrigation facilities to
get maximum yield from the same land area.

Question 16.
Differentiate between inundation canal and perennial canal.
Answer:

Inundation Canals Perennial Canals

These flow throughout the year.
(i) These provide irrigation mostly during the rainy
season.
 
These are drawn from the rivers without m
(ii) These are constructed by putting some form of any kind of barrage or dam.
barrage across the river.
 
(iii) These irrigate large areas. These irrigate small areas.

Question 17.
Give two reasons why inundation canals being converted to perennial canals?
Answer:
Inundation canals are being converted to Perennial Canals because of the
following reasons :

 Inundation Canals are taken out from the rivers when they are in flood and
there is excess of water. Hence if they are converted into perennial canal
they will have water throughout the year.
 Only lower level areas can be irrigated by such canals as they have no
regulating systems.

Question 18.
Give two reasons why tube well irrigation is more important in northern India
than in southern India.
Answer:
Tube well irrigation is important in northern India than in southern India because
of soft land, even land, flat land, agricultural prosperous land for tube well
construction.

Question 19.
Give two reasons why tank irrigation is more popular in southern India.
Answer:
Tank irrigation is widely prevalent in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
Odisha. The tank irrigation is more important in the Deccan Plateau because:

 The terrain of Deccan Plateau is undulating and is made up of hard rocks

which makes it difficult to dig canals and wells.
 There is little percolation of rain water due to hard rock structure and
groundwater is not available in large quantity.

Question 20.
Name two states which suffer periodically from droughts. Give a reason for your
answer.
Answer:
Rajasthan and Gujarat suffer periodically from droughts The reasons for drought
are:

 Location –
These regions are drought prone. These areas receive an annual rainfall up
to 60 cm and hence are severely affected where the monsoons aren’t
enough.
 Inadequate rainfall-
Inadequate or failure of monsoons is a major reasons for droughts in India
Inadequate rainfall causes crop failure which lead to famines.

Question 21.
State the objectives of National Water Policy.
Answer:
Objectives of National Water Policy are:
  The main objective of the policy is to provide surplus water to the deficit
areas. (Meghalaya).
 The policy aims at reducing the runoff, soil erosion and silting of river beds.
 Recharging of groundwater is also a priority of the National Water Policy.
 The policy aims to reduce water pollution and to improve the quality of
water of the rivers. There is an emphasis an recycling of water too.
 There is increasing demand of water for irrigation industries and domestic
uses. The policy aims to take suitable measures for conservation of water
resources, by minimising losses at the storage.

Question 22.
What is meant by the term Rainwater Harvesting?
Answer:
“The activity of collecting rainwater directly or recharging it into the ground to
improve groundwater storage in the aquifer” is called Rainwater harvesting.
Or
It is a technique of increasing the recharge of groundwater by capturing and
storing rainwater.

Question 23.
Why is it necessary to conserve water?
Answer:
We need to conserve water for the following reasons:

 The overexploitation of underground water often results in the lowering of

water table.
 The loss of vegetation causes drought and reduction of rainfall and of the
water table.
 Irrigation utilises more than 90 percent of the total fresh water.
 The water demand for industrial use will increase more than two times of
water demand for domestic use by 2025.
 The increase in population with the progress of time results in water
scarcity.
 Out water resources like the underground water, rivers, lakes etc. are
polluted and their water can hardly be used without adequate treatement.

Question 24.
How is rainwater harvesting done? Explain.
Answer:
Rainwater can be collected over our rooftops and within our house premises and
can be channelized through small PVC pipes into the underground pits wells or
borewells to be used by hand pump or from wells.

Question 25.
State the advantages of rooftop rainwater harvesting.
Answer:
The advantages of rainwater harvesting are:

 It reduces ground water pollution.

 It reduces soil erosion.
 It meets the increasing demand for water and supplements household
requirement of water.
 It reduces surface runoff.
 It avoids flooding of roads.
 It raises the groundwater table by adding to groundwater reserves.
 It conserves water.
 It improves the quality of groundwater.

Question 26.
Name the state where rainwater harvesting is commonly practised.
Answer:
Rajasthan and Karnataka.

Question 27.
Give geographical reasons –
(a) River Damodar is called “river of sorrow”.
(b) Irrigation by canals is more suitable in northern India as compared to the
south.
(c) Tank irrigation is used peninsular India.
Answer:
(a) Its main purpose was to control floods. So as river Damodar is called “River of
Sorrow” owing to its devastating floods.

(b) Canal Irrigation is popular in Northern because it has perennial rivers. Soft
land, even land, flat land, agricultural prosperous land for canal to be constructed
from the rivers to the field.
(c) Tank irrigation is preferred over other means of irrigation in Peninsular India
because of the following reasons:

 In the uneven rocky plateau of Peninsular India, where rainfall is highly

seasonal, tank irrigation is useful.
 In the large stretches of the Indian plateau, due to hard rocky terrain, wells
and canals are difficult to construct, so only tank irrigation is feasible.
 Tank irrigation is highly significant in stroing the abundant rainwater that
would otherwise flow out and go waste.

Question 28.
Answer in one word –
(a) A plastic tube which has small holes through which water keeps on dripping.
(b) An ancient irrigation system in North East part of India.
(c) Tubewells are used extensively in UP and Bihar and are very popular.
Answer:
(a) Drip Irrigation.
(b) Bamboo Irrigation.
(c) Well Irrigation

Question 29.
State the advantages and disadvantages of Sprinkler Irrigation.
Answer:
Advantages of Sprinkler Irrigation:

 This method is best for conserving water as there is no wastage of water.

 It is best suited for arid and semi-arid regions.
 Water management is easier than surface irrigation system.
 Easy mechanization and automation.
 High application efficiency.
 This type of irrigation does not involve any loss of water by seepage or
evaporation.

Disadvantages of Sprinkler Irrigation:

 High initial cost.

 High operating cost.
  Water application efficiency under sprinkler irrigation is strongly affected
by direction of wind.
 Saline water may cause problem.
 Water must be free from sand, debris and salt.
 Some crop are particularly sensitive and may suffer leaf scorch because of
the salt deposited on the leaves after the water evaporates.

Question 30.
Name the modern methods of irrigation.
Answer:
Modem methods of irrigation includes furrow irrigation, spray irrigation, drip
irrigation.

Question 31.
Study the picture below and answer the questions that follows:
(a) Name the type of Irrigation.
Answer:
Drip Irrigation.

(b) What are the advantages of this type of irrigation.

Answer:
Advantages of Drip Irrigation :

 Fertilizer and nutrient loss is minimized if managed localized and reduced

leaching.
 Water application efficiency is high if managed correctly.
 Field levelling is not necessary.
 Fields with irregular shapes are easily accomodated.
 Moisture within the root zone can be maintained at field capacity.