Indian Economic Development Chapter 7 Environment and Sustainable Development VBQs Set 02

'Very Short Answer' Objective Type Questions

Question. Define economic growth.
Answer: Economic growth refers to long-term increase in real per capita income.

Question. Define economic development.
Answer: Economic development refers to long-term increase in real per capita income, along with equitable distribution.

Question. What is the main difference between economic development and sustainable development?
Answer: Economic development refers to long-term increase in real per capita income, along with equitable distribution for the present generation. Sustainable development refers to increase in real per capita income, along with equitable distribution both for the present and future generations.

Question. Give two examples of biotic components of environment.
Answer: Plants and animals.

Question. Give two examples of abiotic components of environment.
Answer: Water and air.

Question. Define carrying capacity of environment.
Answer: Carrying capacity of environment refers to the situation when: (i) exploitation of resources does not exceed the regeneration of resources, so that the resource endowment is not depleted, and (ii) generation of wastes does not exceed the absorption capacity of environment, so that environment is not polluted.

Reason-based Questions 

Read the following statements carefully. Write True or False with a reason.

Question. Poverty leads to compulsive deforestation.
Answer: True. Reason: Owing to poverty, people are compelled to use wood as a domestic fuel. Need for wood leads to tree-felling. Hence, deforestation.

Question. Private transport is less environment-friendly than the public transport.
Answer: True. Reason: Use of private transport implies that there is a larger number of vehicles on the road than when the public transport is used.

Question. Larger the number of red-light signals on the roads, greater is the environmental pollution.
Answer: True. Reason: Because, it is more frequently that the vehicles are to stop at the red-light signals, which leads to unwanted emission of smoke.

Question. Check on population growth in India will lead to a check on environmental pollution.
Answer: True. Reason: Because, India is sustaining excessive population, much in excess of what our resources permit us. It leads to excessive exploitation of resources as well as excessive environmental pollution.

Question. Environment offers production resources.
Answer: True. Reason: Because, environment includes air, water, soil, minerals and other natural resources. All these are used as production resources.

Question. Environmental pollution leads to loss of national wealth.
Answer: True. Reason: Environmental pollution in the form of industrial waste driven to the waterbodies leads to the loss of aquatic life. It is definitely a loss of national wealth.

Question. Input-efficient technology is environmental-friendly.
Answer: True. Reason: Input-efficient technology saves inputs per unit of output. Accordingly, it reduces stress on the country's resource endowment, and is therefore, environmental-friendly.

HOTS & Applications

Question. Do you agree with the view that the use of public transport in place of personal transport reduces environmental degradation?
Answer: It is absolutely correct that the use of public transport in place of personal transport reduces environmental degradation. First, it reduces environmental pollution. Because, when we switch over from personal transport to public transport, the number of vehicles on the road is significantly reduced. This reduces air pollution as well as sound pollution. Second, we economise the use of non-renewable energy (petrol and diesel) which avoids environmental degradation.

Question. Write two observations on how carrying capacity of environment is being challenged in India.
Answer: (i) There is unabated/unchecked flow of industrial waste into the rivers and other waterbodies in the country. (ii) There is a massive unauthorised construction (unmindful of the rules and regulations), leading to air pollution that impairs the quality of life.

Question. How is sustainable development different from non-sustainable development?
Answer: Non-sustainable development is that process of growth which focuses on the pace of growth without accounting for environmental degradation. Sustainable development is that process of growth which focuses on the pace of growth but always accounts for the environmental degradation.

Question. How migration from rural to urban areas leads to environmental degradation? Write one significant observation.
Answer: Migration from rural to urban areas leads to a stress on civic amenities, housing in particular. Often forests are invaded for the construction of houses. It implies deforestation and deforestation implies environmental degradation.

Analysis & Evaluation

Question. Do you agree with a view that environmental degradation is an avoidable opportunity cost of development? Write your observations as a student of economics.
Answer: Opportunity cost is the sacrifice made for enjoying an opportunity. This may be categorised as: (i) avoidable, and (ii) unavoidable. It is unavoidable when, for example, wheat is grown on a piece of land in place of rice. Loss of output of rice is an unavoidable opportunity cost of producing wheat. Opportunity cost is avoidable when, for example excessive smoke is emitted (than the permissible-limit), because of the poor maintenance of the vehicles. Other examples of avoidable opportunity cost are: (i) Deforestation occurring due to illegal tree-felling, (ii) Water pollution and loss of aquatic life due to drainage of industrial waste into the rivers, (iii) Illegal construction of residential houses, causing excessive exploitation of water resources of a particular region, (iv) Illegal mining leading to extinction of waterbodies, and so on. Briefly, avoidable opportunity cost occurs in terms of environmental pollution and environmental degradation. This is avoidable opportunity cost of development. Development process becomes sustainable only when this avoidable opportunity cost is actually avoided.

Question. Challenge of poverty must be addressed prior to the challenge of environmental degradation. State your views.
Answer: It is true that the challenge of poverty must be addressed prior to the challenge of environmental degradation. This is because poverty itself is a significant source of environmental degradation. Here are some examples: (i) It is because of poverty that the rural and tribal population resorts to tree-felling to obtain wood for domestic fuel. It causes environmental degradation in terms of deforestation. (ii) It is because of poverty that the slums are mushrooming across all parts of the country. This also contributes to environmental degradation, by way of excessive exploitation of underground water and by way of excessive release of domestic waste into the waterbodies. (iii) It is because of poverty that population growth is enormously high in India. The poor consider additional child more as an earning hand and less as a liability. Therefore, they have large families. But, the rapidly expanding population adds to environmental pollution as well as environmental degradation (excessive exploitation of natural resources). The above observations offer an ample of support to the hypothesis that poverty must be addressed as a serious challenge in case we want to address the problem of environmental degradation.

Question. Sustainable development is a process to be adopted as a daily life activity. Write your observations.
Answer: It is an undisputed fact that sustainable development is a process to be practised as a daily life activity. Sustainable development is achieved when: (i) environmental pollution is combated, and (ii) environmental degradation is stopped. In our daily life activity, we can contribute to tackling environmental pollution when: (i) we stop littering the roads and public places, (ii) we maintain our vehicles according to the specified standards, so that emission of smoke is minimised, and (iii) we start relying more on public transport, so that vehicular traffic is reduced and pollution is minimised. Likewise, we can contribute to minimising environmental degradation when: (i) we recycle the waste, particularly of water and paper, (ii) we refrain from tree-felling to obtain fire wood, (iii) we do not build our residential houses in unauthorised areas, and (iv) as producers we use only the environment-friendly techniques relating to production, and disposal of the industrial waste. Briefly, we should not stretch our environment to serve us beyond its capacity. If we do, sustainable development would remain a far cry.

Question. HYV is a familiar concept to you. It caused a revolutionary change in agricultural productivity. But, at the same time, it has silently been contributing to the degradation of soil, implying environmental degradation. Give a thought to this paradox and write your suggestion to address it.
Answer: HYV technology induces environmental pollution as it is based on the extensive application of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. This technology is crop-friendly, but not soil-friendly. It erodes fertility of the soil and pollutes ground water. Organic farming is recommended as an alternative which is soil-friendly. But this technology is not crop-friendly. Crop productivity is significantly reduced when we shift from HYV-based conventional farming to organic farming. Accordingly, we have to strike a balance between the two technologies. We should shift to organic farming, keeping in mind the fact that the loss of productivity does not lead to food scarcity in the country.

NCERT Questions 

Question. What is meant by environment?
Answer: Environment is defined as all those conditions and their effects which influence human life. It is the sum total of surroundings and the totality of resources that affect our existence and the quality of our life.

Question. What happens when the rate of resource extraction exceeds the rate of their regeneration?
Answer:  It leads to environmental crises.

Question. Two major environmental issues facing the world today are ________ and ________.
Answer: Environmental pollution and degradation of natural resources.

Question. What are the functions of the environment?
Answer: The main functions of environment are as these: (i) Environment Offers Resources for Production: Environment includes physical resources (minerals, wood, water, soil and others) which are available to us as a free gift of nature. These resources are used as inputs for production. In fact, production is simply the process of conversion of natural resources into useful things. (ii) Environment Sustains Life: Environment includes sun, soil, water and air which are essential ingredients for the sustenance of human life. Absence of these elements of environment implies the end of life. (iii) Environment Assimilates Waste: Production and consumption activities generate wastes. This occur mostly in the form of garbage. Environment absorbs it. (iv) Environment Enhances Quality of Life: Surroundings include rivers, oceans, mountains and deserts. Man enjoys these surroundings, adding to the quality of his life.

Question. Identify six factors contributing to land degradation in India.
Answer: Following factors contributing to land degradation in India: (i) Deforestation. (ii) Unsustainable fuel wood and fodder extraction. (iii) Shifting cultivation. (iv) Encroachment of forest lands. (v) Forest fires and over grazing. (vi) Lack of soil-conservation measures.

Question. Explain how the opportunity costs of negative environmental impact are high.
Answer: Opportunity costs of negative environmental impact include two principal elements: (i) loss of production capacity of future generations (owing to excessive exploitation of natural resources by the present generation), and (ii) environmental pollution (in terms of air pollution, water pollution and sound pollution). Both these elements of opportunity cost tend to assume exponential growth in the pursuit of rapid GDP growth. Consequently, the growth process itself becomes un-sustainable, besides causing a massive set-back to the quality of life (in the wake of environmental pollution). The opportunity cost of negative environmental impact is so high that it is being considered as an emerging challenge of the growth process.

Question. Outline the steps involved in attaining sustainable development in India.
Answer: Following steps have been taken for attaining sustainable development in India: (i) Use of input-efficient technology. (ii) Use of environment-friendly sources of energy. (iii) Integrated rural development so that migration of rural population to urban areas is curtailed. (iv) Conversion of sunlight into solar energy and solar energy into electricity. (v) A focus on organic farming. (vi) Efficient management of the wastes. (vii) Stringent laws on the disposal of chemical effluents. (viii) Spread of awareness to conserve natural assets for inter-generational equity. (ix) Use of public means of transport.

Question. Give two instances of: (a) Overuse of environmental resources. (b) Misuse of environmental resources.
Answer: (a) Examples of Overuse of Environmental Resources: (i) Excessive exploitation of fossil fuels. (ii) Excessive tree-felling to cope with the rising need of housing in urban areas. (b) Examples of Misuse of Environmental Resources: (i) Use of wood as a household fuel. (ii) Use of rivers to absorb industrial effluents.

Question. Explain the supply-demand reversal of environmental resources.
Answer: Environmental degradation owes a great deal to supply-demand reversal of resources over a period of time. Prior to industrialisation, when the pace of life was slow, demand for natural resources did not exceed their supply. As industrialisation progressed, there was a surge in human wants. Accordingly, there has been an exponential growth in demand for natural resources, leading to their overuse as well as misuse. Supply of resources has suffered a reversal from abundance to paucity. Demand, on the other hand, has reversed from manageable to unmanageable limits.

Question. What is sustainable development?
Answer: Sustainable development is that process of economic development which aims at raising the quality of life of both present and future generations, without threatening natural endowment and environment.