Varsha went to her native village recently. She found out that her village faces acute shortage of water. People in her village are basically involved in agricultural activities and use traditional methods of irrigation. They also depend on rain for most of the irrigation. In addition, they clear forests for agricultural activities. Also, during summers they face drought like situations as the villagers are dependent on nearby river for day to day usage of water but it dries up. She thinks that she should do something to make the situation better for the people but has no idea how she can help the villagers. Can you suggest some ideas? [5 MARKS]

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Solution

Concept:2 Marks
Explanation 3 Marks

There are many ways to solve the water shortage of Varsha's village. Firstly, the villagers should use modern irrigation method like drip irrigation where water is supplied to the plants via an underground network of pipes having small holes near every plant. This saves water by supplying water directly to the roots and also inhibits wastage due to ground evaporation.

Deforestation or clearing of forests further increases wastage of water because tree roots hold rain water and allow proper infiltration. In absence of trees the rain water will run off easily. So, the villagers should plant more and more trees.

Moreover, in order to solve the drought problem the villagers should build water collection tanks like Bawris or ponds.

Rain water harvesting can also be done by the people where the rain water is stored and used judiciously by the help of a network of pipes and tanks.

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