Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the five given alternatives.
Environmental protection and management is deservedly attracting a lot of attention these days. This is a desirable development in the face of the alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilization. When waste waters emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agricultural and land runoffs, find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water deteriorates, rendering it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter.
According to one study, all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted. Besides the Ganga, these rivers include the Yamuna, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. These rivers carry 85 percent of the surface runoff and their drainage basins cover 73 percent of the country. The pollution of the much revered Ganga is due in particular to municipal sewage that accounts for 3/4th of its pollution load. Despite India having legislation on water pollution [The water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] and various water pollution control boards, rivers have today become synonymous with drains and sewers.
Untreated community wastes discharged into water courses from human settlements account for four times as much waste water as industrial effluent. Out of India’s 3,119 towns and cities, only 217 have partial (209) or full (8) sewerage treatment facilities and cover less than of third of the urban population, Statistics from a report of the Central Board for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution reveal that 1,700 of 2,700 water using industries in India, are polluting the water around their factories. Only 160 industries have waste water treatment plants. One estimate suggests that the volume of waste water of industrial origin will be comparable to that of domestic sewage in India by 2000 A.D. Discharges from agricultural fields, which carry fertilizing ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides are expected to be three times as much as domestic sewage. By that date, thermal pollution generated by discharges from thermal power plants will be the largest in volume.
Toxic effluents deplete the level of oxygen in the rivers, endanger all aquatic life and render water absolutely unfit for human consumption, apart from affecting industrial production. Sometimes, these effects have been disastrous. A recent study reveals that the water of the Ganga, Yamuna, Kali and Hindon rivers have considerable concentration of heavy metals due to inflow of industrial wastes, which pose a serious health hazard to the millions living on their bands. Similarly, the Cauvery and Kapila rivers in Karnataka have been found to contain metal pollution which hreatens the health of people in riverine towns. The Periyar, the largest river of Kerala, receivers extremely toxic effluent that result in high incidence of skin problems and fish kills. The Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and the Damodar and Hoogly in West Bengal receive untreated industrial toxic wastes. A high level of pollution has been found in the Yamuna, while the Chambal of Rajasthan is considered the most polluted river in Rajasthan. Even in industrially backward Orissa, the Rushikula river is extremely polluted. The fate of the Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, the Chaliyar in Kerala, the Gomati in U.P., the Narmada in M.P. and the Sone and the Subarnarekha rivers in Bihar is no different.
According to the W.H.O., eighty percent of diseases prevalent in India are water-borne; many of them assume epidemic proportions. The prevalence of these diseases heighten under conditions of drought. It is also estimated that India loses as many as 73 million man days every year due to water borne diseases, costing Rs. 600 crore by way of treatment expenditure and production losses. Management of water resources with respect to their quality also assumes greater importance especially when the country can no more afford to waste water.
The recent Clean-the-Ganga Project, with an action plan estimated to cost the exchequer Rs. 250 crore (which has been accorded top priority) is a trend setter in achieving this goal. The action plan evoked such great interest that offers of assistance have been received from France, U.K., U.S. and the Netherlands, as also from the World Bank. This is indeed laudable. Poland too has now joined this list.
The very fact that these countries have volunteered themselves to contribute their mite is a healthy reflection of global concern over growing environmental degradation and the readiness of the international community to participate in what is a truly formidable task. It may be recalled that the task of cleansing the Ganga along the Rishikesh-Hardwar stretch under the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan, has been completed and the results are reported to be encouraging.
The crisis of drinking water is deepening because water resources are drying up and the lowering of ground water through over pumping, this is compounded by the pollution of water resources. All these factors increase the magnitude of the problem. An assessment of the progress achieved by the end of March 1985, on completion of the first phase of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Dacade (1981–91), reveals that drinking water has been made available to 73 percent of the urban population and 56 percent to the rural population only. This means that nearly half the country’s rural population has to get drinking water facilities. This needs to be urgently geared up especially when considered against the Government’s professed objective of providing safe drinking water and sanitation to all by the end of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, i.e., March 1991. The foremost action in this would be to clean up our water resources.
As per surveys conducted by the NEERI, per capita drinking water losses in different cities in the country range between 11,000 to 31,000 liters annually. This indicates a waste level of 20-35 percent of the total flow of water in the distribution system, primarily due to leaks in mains and household service pipes. Preventive maintenance programme would substantially reduce losses/wastages and would certainly go a long way in solving the problem.
According to the Union Ministry of Works and Housing, out of 2.31 lakh problem villages identified in 1980, 1.92 lakh (83 percent) villages have been provided with at least one source of drinking water as of March 1986. The balance (38,748) villages are expected to be covered during the seventh plan. A time-bound national policy on drinking water is being formulated by Government, wherein the task is proposed to be completed by the end of the seventh plan. An outlay of Rs. 6,522.47 crores has been allotted for the water supply and sanitation sector in the seventh plan period, against an outlay of Rs. 3,922.02 crores in the sixth plan. Of this, outlay for rural water supply sector is Rs. 3,454.47 crores. It is expected that this outlay would help to cover about 86.4 percent of the urban and 82.2 percent of the rural population with safe drinking water facilities by March 1991.Hygienic sanitation facilities would be provided to 44.7 percent and 1.8 percent of the urban and rural population respectively within, the same period.
Q1. The degradation of natural resources will necessarily lead to:
(a) poor economic utilization of resources.
(b) contamination of water from municipal sewage.
(c) water unfit for human consumption.
(d) deforestation
(e) None of the above.
Q2. According to NEERI:
(a) the extent of water pollution in the Dal Lake is grim.
(b) seventy percent of total water available in the country is polluted.
(c) only 217 out of 3119 towns and cities have sewage treatment facilities.
(d) all the 14 major rivers of India are highly polluted.
(e) None of the above.
Q3. Municipal sewage pollutants account for:
(a) the lowest percentage of water pollution.
(b) seventy-five percent of the Ganga’s water pollution load.
(c) twice the volume of the waste water of industrial origin.
(d) three times as much as the discharge from agricultural fields.
(e) None of the above.
Q4. Which of the following statements is correct?
(a) The river Periyar is in South India.
(b) The river Periyar is the largest river of Kerala.
(c) The river Gomti is also extremely polluted.
(d) All of the above are correct.
(e) None of the above is correct.
Q5. The cost of the Clean-the-Ganga Pollution Project Action Plan is likely to be sourced from:
(a) the Indian Exchequer.
(b) France, U.K., U.S and the Netherlands.
(c) the World Bank, Poland, U.K.
(d) the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Poland, France, the World Bank and India.
(e) None of the above.
Q6. Which of the following statements made by the WHO is correct?
(a) Water-borne diseases account for eighty percent of all diseases prevalent in India.
(b) Water-borne diseases in India create a loss of Rs. 600 crores every year.
(c) only (a) is correct.
(d) Both (a) and (b) are correct.
(e) None of the above.
Q7. Considerable amounts of metal pollutants are found in the river(s):
(a) Chambal of Rajasthan.
(b) Rushikula in Orissa.
(c) Damodar, Hoogly,, Krishna and Gomti.
(d) Ganga, Yamuna, Kali, Hindon, Cauvery and Kapila.
(e) None of the above.
Q8. The crisis of drinking water is caused chiefly by:
(a) the greenhouse effect.
(b) water pollution caused by industrial development.
(c) drying up of water sources and over-pumping.
(d) increasing urbanization.
(e) None of the above.
Q9. The best remedy for water shortage lies in:
(a) putting up more pumps in rural areas.
(b) cleaning up polluted water.
(c) reducing the waste level of 25-30 percent of the total flow of water.
(d) constructing large-sized dams.
(e) None of the above.
Q10. Out of the total outlay for water supply and sanitation in the seventh plan, rural water supply sector would receive.
(a) about 53 percent.
(b) over 80 percent.
(c) between 65 and 80 percent.
(d) equal to 44.7 percent.
(e) None of the above.
Directions (11-15): Rearrange the following five sentences (A), (B), (C), (D) and (E) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions given below.
(A) Managerial accountability, whether in the public or the private sector, similarly requires that managers be answerable for the tasks which they have contracted to perform, according to agreed standards of competence.
(B) In parliamentary systems, ministers are held to account through oral and written questions- in some cases through ‘interpellation’, that is, through requiring them to give a detailed response to a question on policy or administration.
(C) Regimes in which rulers cannot be held to account, either by representatives or by judges, are called arbitrary and authoritarian.
(D) Political accountability is the hallmark of responsible and representative government.
(E) Political accountability requires the actions of politicians, or public officials, whether they be administrative, ethical or financial, to be open to inspection, scrutiny and challenge.
Q11. Which of the following should be the First sentence of the given paragraph?
(a)E
(b)D
(c)C
(d)B
(e)A
Q12. Which of the following should be the Third sentence of the given paragraph?
(a)A
(b)B
(c)C
(d)D
(e)E
Q13. Which of the following should be the Fifth sentence of the given paragraph?
(a)A
(b)C
(c)B
(d)D
(e)E
Q14. Which of the following should be the Fourth sentence of the given paragraph?
(a)A
(b)C
(c)B
(d)E
(e)D
Q15. Which of the following should be the Second sentence of the given paragraph?
(a)B
(b)D
(c)A
(d)C
(e)E
Solutions
1. Ans.(a)
2. Ans.(b)
3. Ans.(b)
4. Ans.(d)
5. Ans.(d)
6. Ans.(d)
7. Ans.(d)
8. Ans.(c)
9. Ans.(b)
10. Ans.(a)
10. Ans.(a)
11. Ans.(a)
12. Ans.(b)
13. Ans.(a)
14. Ans.(b)
15. Ans.(b)
