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Read The Passage Given Below

The passage discusses water conflicts in India. It notes that water conflicts now occur at every level of society and between states. While water wars have not occurred, water is altering political boundaries both within and between countries. In India, water conflicts are likely to worsen before being resolved, posing a threat to economic growth, security, and ecosystems. However, conflicts are a logical result of the lack of mechanisms for handling issues related to water access and distribution. Water is a shareable resource, but its uses involve tradeoffs. Water management often results in externalities, but it has received less attention than other natural resources like land.

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88 views

Read The Passage Given Below

The passage discusses water conflicts in India. It notes that water conflicts now occur at every level of society and between states. While water wars have not occurred, water is altering political boundaries both within and between countries. In India, water conflicts are likely to worsen before being resolved, posing a threat to economic growth, security, and ecosystems. However, conflicts are a logical result of the lack of mechanisms for handling issues related to water access and distribution. Water is a shareable resource, but its uses involve tradeoffs. Water management often results in externalities, but it has received less attention than other natural resources like land.

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asia
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Read the passage given below.

“Rivers should link, not divide us,” said the Indian Prime Minister, expressing
concern over interstate disputes and urged state governments to show
“understanding and consideration, statesmanship and an appreciation of the
other point of view.” Water conflicts in India now reach every level; divide every
segment of our society, political parties, states, regions and sub-regions within
states, districts, castes and groups and individual farmers. Water conflicts within
and between many developing countries are also taking a serious turn.
Fortunately, the “water wars”, forecast by so many, have not yet materialized.
War has taken place, but over oil, not water.

Water is radically altering and affecting political boundaries all over the world,
between as well as within countries. In India,water conflicts are likely to worsen
before they get resolved. Till then they pose a significant threat to economic
growth,security and health of the ecosystem and the victims are likely to be the
poorest of the poor as well as the very sources of water - rivers, wetlands and
aquifers. Conflicts might sound bad or negative, but they are logical
developments in the absence of proper democratic, legal and administrative
mechanisms to handle issues at the root of water conflicts. Part of the problem
stems from the specific nature of water, namely that water is divisible and
amenable to sharing; one unit of water is used by one is a unit denied to others;
it has multiple uses and users and involves resultant trade-offs.

Excludability is an inherent problem and very often exclusion costs are very
high: it involves the issue of graded scales,boundaries and the need for evolving
a corresponding understanding around them. Finally the way water is planned,
used and managed causes externalities, both positive and negative, and many of
them are unidirectional and asymmetric. There is a relatively greater visibility as
well as a greater body of experience in evolving policies, frameworks, legal set-
ups and administrative mechanisms dealing with immobile natural resources,
however contested the space may be Reformist as well as revolutionary
movements are rooted in issues related to land. Several political and legal
interventions addressing the issue of equity and societal justice have been
attempted. Most countries have gone through land reforms of one type or
another. Issues related to forests have also generated a body of comprehensive
literature on forest resources and rights.

Though conflicts over them have not necessarily been effectively or adequately
resolved, they have received much more serious attention, have been studied in
their own right and practical as well as theoretical means of dealing with them
have been sought. In contrast, water conflicts have not received the same kind
of attention.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any six


questions.
11. According to the author which of the following is/are consequences of water
conflicts?

I. Trans-border conflicts between developing countries.

II. Water bodies will remain unused and unaffected till the conflict is
resolved.

III. Water conflicts have altered the political boundaries within countries.

(a) Only I (b) Only II (c) Only III (d) Both I & III

12. Why does the author ask readers not to view conflicts too negatively?

I. Most countries have survived them easily.

II. They bring political parties together.

III. They only affect the grass root levels.

(a) Only I (b) Only II (c) Only III (d) None of I, II and III

13. The author's main objective in writing the passage is to:

(a) Showcase government commitment to solve the water distribution


problem.

(b) Make a strong case for war as the logical resolution for water conflicts.

(c) Point out the seriousness of the threat posed by unresolved water
conflicts.

(d) Describe how the very nature of water contributes to water struggles.

14. Which word from the passage means the same as 'discord'?

(a) Interventions (b) Conflict (c) Amenable (d) Revolutionary

15. What is the prime Minister's advice to resolve water disputes?

(a) Link all rivers to make a national grid.

(b) Politicians alone can solve the problem.

(c) Bridges and dams can resolve water issues.

(d) Make consensual and conscious efforts

16. What is the antonym of the word EVOLVING?

(a) Everchanging (b) Growing (c) Progress (d) Regression

17. In India water problem deepens before getting resolved.

(a) True (b) False

18. What message does the author wants to convey in the passage?

(a) Save water (b) Water is a precious resource


(c) Water and politics are interconnected (d) None of the above

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