Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems — NCERT Solutions

Major problems of urban waste disposal in India include uncollected garbage, accumulation of waste on streets and open spaces, obnoxious smell, and the breeding of flies and rodents that spread diseases like typhoid, cholera, diarrhoea and malaria. Untreated waste also pollutes rivers and produces toxic biogas.

Air pollution harms human health mainly by causing diseases of the respiratory system, the nervous system and the circulatory system. It can also lead to breathing problems, and smog in cities is especially harmful.

Water pollution in India is caused mainly by human activities such as industrial waste disposal, sewage, agricultural run-off, and cultural activities. Industries release toxic effluents, chemicals and heavy metals into rivers and lakes. Agricultural chemicals like fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides also enter water bodies and groundwater. As a result, many surface water sources in India are contaminated and unfit for human consumption.

Slums in India are areas where people live in dilapidated houses with poor ventilation, lack of drinking water, electricity and toilets, and overcrowded narrow streets. They develop because poor migrants cannot afford proper housing in cities. Slum-dwellers usually work in low-paid informal jobs, suffer poor health and undernutrition, and their children often miss school because of poverty and bad living conditions.

Measures to reduce land degradation include watershed management, soil and water conservation, afforestation, improving vegetation cover, social fencing of common lands, controlled grazing, and proper use of land so that fertility is maintained. The chapter also shows that community participation, planting trees, land leveling, desilting ponds, and treating degraded areas can help restore land quality.