Indian Geography G.S.-I

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INITIATIVE BY ECOHOLICS www.iasorigin.com

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Indian Geography for G.S.-1 Mains
Index
1. India-Location 2-3
2. Physiography 4-12
3. Drainage System 13-20
4. Indian Climate 21-27
5. Soils 28-34
6. Natural Vegetation & Wildlife 35-45
7. Agriculture 46-58
8. Geological Structure 59-62
9. Mineral & Energy Resources 63-71
10. Industry 72-82
11. Water Resources 83-86
12. Transport 87-89
13. Population 90-92

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1. INDIA: LOCATION
 India is an ancient country, known as Bharatvarsh. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides and
separated from the rest of Asia by lofty mountain chains. The Arabian Sea lies to its southwest,
the Bay of Bengal to its southeast and the Indian Ocean to its south.
 This well-defined South Asian landmass is called Indian sub-continent (consists of the countries
of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka).
 India lies wholly in the Northern Hemisphere, it extends between
o 6°45’N to 37°6'N latitudes
o 68°7' E to 97°25' E longitudes.
 In area, India is the seventh largest country in the world but in population it stands next only to
China.
o Rajasthan- largest state
o Uttar Pradesh- most populated state.
o Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala-states along western coast
o West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu- states along the eastern coast.
o Gujarat- longest coast line
o Goa- smallest coast line in mainland
 When the Union territories of India are included, the Andaman and Nicobar has longest coastal
line. The southernmost point of the country as a whole lies further south in Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. It is now called Indira Point.

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 The Tropic of Cancer passes almost halfway through the country. Thus, half of the country to the
south of the Tropic of Cancer is situated in the Tropical or Torrid Zone and the other half lying
north of the Tropic of Cancer falls in the Sub-tropical zone.
BOUNDARIES SHARED:
 India has common boundary with many neighboring countries like Pakistan, China, Nepal,
Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
o RADCLIFFE LINE- boundary between India & Pakistan. The Indian states Gujarat, Rajasthan,
Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir shares boundary with Pakistan.
o MACMOHAN LINE- boundary between India & China. The Indian states Jammu and Kashmir,
Himanchal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh shares its boundary with
China.
o The Nepal shares boundary with Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim and West Bengal.
o The Bhutan shares boundary with Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam and West Bengal.
o The Indian states Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram shares its boundary
with Myanmar.
o India has longest sharing border with Bangladesh. West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura
and Mizoram share its boundary with Bangladesh.
o The Palk Strait separates Indian mainland from Sri Lanka. Structurally, Sri Lanka is an
extension of the peninsular block of India.
*****

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2. PHYSIOGRAPHY OF INDIA
 ‘Physiography’ of an area is the outcome of structure, process and the stage of development.
Based on the macro variations, India can be divided into the following physiographic divisions:
o The Northern and North-eastern Mountains
o The Northern Plain
o The Peninsular Plateau
o The Indian Desert
o The Coastal Plains
o The Islands.
THE NORTHERN & NORTH-EASTERN MOUNTAINS

 Geographically the entire Northern mountain system can be divided into-
o The Himalayan Ranges
o The Trans-Himalayas
o The Poorvanchal
THE HIMALAYAN RANGES

 The Himalayas, geologically young and structurally fold mountains stretch over the northern
borders of India.

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 These mountain ranges run in a Northwest/Southeast direction from the Indus to the
Brahmaputra. They form an arc, which covers a distance of about 2,400 Km. Their width varies
from 400 Km in Kashmir to 150 Km in Arunachal Pradesh.
 These ranges are separated by deep valleys.The individual ranges have very steep gradient
towards the south but they present a much gentler slope towards the north.
 The altitudinal variations are greater in the eastern half than those in the western half. The
Himalaya consists of three parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent.
1. HIMADRI OR GREATER HIMALAYAS
a. It extends from the gorge of Indus river in the west to the bend at Namcha Barva in the
east. It is the most continuous range.
o Average height- 6000 m
o Average width- 120 – 190 km.
b. The folds of Great Himalayas are asymmetrical in nature. The core of this part of Himalayas
is composed of granite. Important mountain peaks of the Great Himalayas are-
o Mount Everest (8848m :Highest peak of the world)
o Kanchenjunga (8598m)
o Lhotse (8516m)
o Makalu (8481m)
o Dhaulagiri (8172m)
o Nanga Parbat (8126m)
o Annapurna (8076m)
o Nandadevi (7817m)
c. The Ganga and the Yamuna, two rivers originate from this Himalaya.
IMPORTANT PASSES
 Burzil pass- in Jammu and Kashmir, connects Srinagar and Gilgit.
 Zoji La- in Jammu and Kashmir, connects Srinagar and Leh.
 Shipki La- in Himachal Pradesh, connects shimla with Gartok town in Tibet and
is an important trade route
 Lipu Lekh- in Uttarakhand, Indian pilgrims visit Masarovar through this pass.
 Niti pass- in Uttarakhand
 Raxaul and Jogabani passes- in Bihar
 Nathu La- in Sikkim, important trade pass.
 Jelep La- in Sikkim
 Bumla- in Arunachal Pradesh, between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet
 Diphu pass- in Arunachal Pradesh, gateway from Arunachal Pradesh into
Mayanmar
2. MIDDLE OR LESSER HIMALAYAS

a. Lies between the Shivaliks in the south and the Great Himalyas in the north.
o Altitude- varies between 3,700 and 4,500 m
o Average width- 50 Km.

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b. Pir Panjal range forms the longest and the most important range, and consists of the
famous valley of Kashmir, the Kangra and Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh.
c. Other prominent ranges:
o Dhaula Dhar
o Mussorie
o Nag Tiba
o Mahabharat ranges.
d. This region is well known for its hill stations:
o Shimla, Dalhousie, Dharamshala- on Dhaula Dhar range
o Lansdowne, Nanital, Mussorie etc on Mussorie range.
3. THE SHIVALIK RANGE
a. It is the outermost range of the Himalayas.
o Width- 10-50 Km
o Altitude- between 900 and 1100 metres.
b. These ranges are composed of unconsolidated sediments brought down by rivers from the
main Himalayan ranges located farther north.
c. It is an almost unbroken succession of low hills for 2400 km from the Potwar plateau to
Brahmaputra valley, except for a gap of 80 kms which is occupied by valley of river Tista.
d. The shivaliks are known by different names in different areas. Thay are called
o Jammu hills in Jammu and Dafla
o Miri, Abor, Mismi in Arunachal Pradesh.
o Duns and Duars like Dehra Dun are its chief characteristic.
THE TRANS-HIMALAYAS
 The Himalayan Ranges immediately north of the Great Himalayan range are called trans-
Himalaya. Also called Tibetan Himalayas most of it lies in Tibet.
 It includes Karakoram, Zanskar, Ladakh, and Kailash mountain ranges.
1. KARAKORAM RANGE
a. This mountain range extends across the borders of India, Pakistan, and China. The
northwest extremity of this range extends to Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
b. The average width of this range is 120 – 140 km. Most peaks hardly ever fall below 5,500 m.
Some of the peaks are more than 8,000 m above sea level.
c. Four highest peaks (each over 8000 meters height) are situated very closely.
o K2 (second highest peak in the world, also called God Austin)
o Gasherbrum-l
o Gasherbrum-ll
o Broad Peak are situated very closely.
d. This range is the most heavily glaciated part of the world except the polar regions.
o The Siachen glacier- world’s largest non polar glacier is in this range.
o Other glaciers include Fed Chanko, Biafo, Baltoro.
e. Khunjareb, Aghilad, Karakoram are the important passes in this range.
2. LADAKH RANGE
a. This part of the Trans Himalayan Ranges lies to the north of the Leh.

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b. This range merges with the Kailash range in Tibet.

c. Rakaposhi is the important peak. Chorbat and Digarla are important passes.
3. ZASKAR RANGE
a. This part of Trans Himalayas is situated in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
b. It branches off from the Great Himalayan range from Nanga Parbat.
c. Mount Kamet is the highest peak. Satluj cuts the Zaskar range when it enters India.
THE PURVANCHAL
 Beyond the Dihang gorge, the Himalayas bend sharply to the south and spread along the eastern
boundary of India. They are known as the Purvanchal or the Eastern hills and mountains.
 These hills are mostly composed of strong sandstones which are sedimentary rocks. Covered
with dense forests, they mostly run as parallel ranges and valleys.
 The Purvanchal comprises the:
o Patkai hills
o Naga hills
o Manipur hills and
o Mizo hills.
a. In the north, is the Patkai Bum which forms the International boundary between India and
Myanmar.
b. After running for some distance southward it merges with the Naga Hills where Saramati
(3826m) is the highest peak.
c. South of Naga hills are the Manipur hills. Barail range separates Naga Hills and Manipur hills.
Mikir hill is another famous hill.
d. South of Manipur hills are the Mizo hills where Blue Mountain (2157m) is the highest peak.
 Elevation of the eastern hills decreases as we move from north to south. Although
comparatively low, these hills are rather forbidding because of the rough terrain, dense forests
and swift streams.
 Besides the longitudinal divisions, the Himalayas have been divided on the basis of regions from
west to east. These divisions have been demarcated by river valleys.
o For example, the part of Himalayas lying between Indus and Satluj has been traditionally
known as Punjab Himalaya but it is also known regionally as Kashmir and Himachal
Himalaya from west to east respectively.
o The part of the Himalayas lying between Satluj and Kali rivers is known as Kumaon
Himalayas.
o The Kali and Tista rivers demarcate the Nepal Himalayas and the part lying between Tista
and Dihang rivers is known as Assam Himalayas.
THE NORTHERN PLAINS

FORMATION:
 The northern plains are formed by the alluvial deposits brought by the rivers – the Indus, the
Ganga and the Brahmaputra and their tributaries.
FEATURES:
 These plains have characteristic features of mature stage of fluvial erosional and depositional
landforms:

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o Sand bars
o Meanders
o Oxbow lakes
o Braided channels.
 The Brahmaputra plains are known for their riverine islands (like Majuli island) and sand bars.
 Most of these areas are subjected to periodic floods and shifting river courses forming braided
streams.
 These river valley plains have a fertile alluvial soil cover which supports a variety of crops like
wheat, rice, sugarcane and jute, and hence, supports a large population.
SUB-DIVISION:
 From the north to the south, these can be divided into three major zones:
o the Bhabar
o the Tarai
o the alluvial plains further divided into:
a. the Khadar
b. the Bhangar.
1. BHABAR
a. Bhabar is a narrow belt ranging between 8-10 km parallel to the Shiwalik foothills.
b. Due to the break-up of the slope, the streams and rivers coming from the mountains deposit
heavy materials of rocks and boulders, and at times, disappear in this zone.
2. TARAI
a. South of the Bhabar is theTarai belt, with an approximate width of 10-20 km.
b. Most of the streams and rivers re-emerge without having any properly demarcated channel,
thereby, creating marshy and swampy conditions known as the Tarai.
c. This has a luxurious growth of natural vegetation and houses a varied wild life.
d. But today, the Tarai region has been reclaimed for agriculture causing loss of forest.
3. BHANGAR
a. The south of Tarai is a belt consisting of old alluvial deposits known as the Bhangar.
b. They form the largest part of northern plain.
c. They lie above the flood plains of rivers and present terrace like structure.
d. They contain calcareous deposit locally known as kankar.
4. KHADAR
a. A belt consisting of new alluvial deposits known as the Khadar.
b. They are renewed almost every year and so are very fertile.
THE PENINSULAR PLATEAU

ORIGIN: It is formed due to the breaking and drifting of the Gondwana land and thus making it a
part of the oldest landmass.
EXTENT:
 Delhi ridge in the northwest (extension of Aravalis)
 Rajmahal hills in the east
 Gir range in the west

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 Cardamom hills in the south constitute the outer extent of the Peninsular plateau.
 However, an extension of this is also seen in the northeast, in the form of Meghalaya plateau
and Karbi-Anglong plateau.
FEATURES:
 It is the largest physiographic division of India and one of the oldest and the most stable
landmass of India.
 The general elevation of the plateau is from the west to the east, which is also proved by the
pattern of the flow of rivers.
 Some of the important physiographic features of this region are:
o Tors
o block mountains
o rift valleys
o spurs & bare rocky structures
o series of hummocky hills and
o wall-like quartzite dykes offering natural sites for water storage.
 The western and north-western part of the plateau has an emphatic presence of black soil.
 The northwestern part of the plateau has a complex relief of ravines and gorges. The ravines of
Chambal, Bhind and Morena are some of the well-known examples.
SUB-DIVISION:
 On the basis of the prominent relief features, the Peninsular plateau can be divided into three
broad groups:
o The Deccan Plateau
o The Central Highlands
o The North-eastern Plateau.
1. THE DECCAN PLATEAU

o It is a triangular landmass that lie to the south of river Narmada.
o This is bordered by the Western Ghats in the west, Eastern Ghats in the east and the
Satpura, Maikal range and Mahadeo hills in the north.
a. Western Ghats:
o The western slope is like escarpment rising sharply from western coastal plains while eastern
slope merges gently with plateau.
o Most of the Peninsular rivers have their origin in the Western Ghats.
o Western Ghats lie parallel to the western coast. They are continuous and can be crossed
through passes only.
o They are higher than the Eastern Ghats. Their average elevation is 900– 1600 metres as
against 600 metres of the Eastern Ghats.
o They cause orographic rain by facing the rain bearing moist winds to rise along the western
slopes of the Ghats.
o Their height progressively increases from north to south.
o The highest peaks include the AnaiMudi (2,695metres) and the Doda Betta (2,637 metres).
b. Eastern Ghats:

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o The Eastern Ghats stretch from the Mahanadi Valley to the Nigiris in the south.
o They are discontinuous and irregular and dissected by rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal.
o Mahendragiri (1,501 metres) is the highest peak in the Eastern Ghats.
c. Deccan Trap:
o One of the distinctive features of Peninsular India is the Black soil area known as Deccan
Trap.
o It was formed when Indian Plate came over a Hotspot while moving northwards.
o This is of volcanic origin hence the rocks are igneous. Actually these rocks have denuded
over time and are responsible for the formation of black soil.
2. CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
o They are bounded to the west by the Aravali range and the Satpura range is on the south.
o The general elevation of the Central Highlands ranges between 700- 1,000 m above the
mean sea level and it slopes towards the north and north-eastern directions.
o An eastern extension of the Central Highland is formed by the Rajmahal hills.
o It is a classic example of the relict mountains which are highly denuded and form
discontinuous ranges.
o This region has undergone metamorphic processes in its geological history, which can be
corroborated by the presence of metamorphic rocks such as marble, slate, gneiss, etc.
3. THE NORTH-EASTERN PLATEAU

o It is an extension of the main Peninsular plateau. It is believed that due to the force exerted
by the north-eastward movement of the Indian plate at the time of the Himalayan origin, a
huge fault was created between the Rajmahal hills and the Meghalaya plateau.
o The Meghalaya plateau is further sub-divided into three:
a. The Garo Hills
b. The Khasi Hills
c. The Jaintia Hills, named after the tribal groups inhabiting this region.
o An extension of this is also seen in the Karbi Anglong hills of Assam.
o The Meghalaya plateau is rich in mineral resources like coal, iron ore, sillimanite, limestone
and uranium.
THE INDIAN DESERT

 To the northwest of the Aravali hills lies the Great Indian desert.
 This region receives low rainfall below 150 mm per year; hence, it has arid climate with low
vegetation cover.
 Due to extreme arid conditions, its surface features have been carved by physical weathering
and wind actions.
 Most of the rivers in this region are ephemeral. The Luni river flowing in the southern part of
the desert is of some significance.
THE COASTAL PLAINS

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 The Peninsular plateau is flanked by stretch of narrow coastal strips, running along the Arabian
Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east.
 On the basis of the location it can be broadly divided into two:
o Western coastal plains
o Eastern coastal plains.
1. THE WESTERN COASTAL PLAINS

o Extent: Extending from the Gujarat coast in the north to the Kerala coast in the south.
o Features: The western coastal plains are an example of submerged coastal plain.
a. Because of this submergence, it is a narrow belt and provides natural conditions for the
development of ports and harbours.
b. Kandla, Mazagaon, JLN port Navha Sheva, Marmagao, Mangalore, Cochin, etc. are some of
the important natural ports located along the west coast.
c. The rivers flowing through this coastal plain do not form any delta.
o Sub-division: It may be divided into following divisions –
a. Kachchh and Kathiawar coast in Gujarat.
b. Konkan coast in Maharashtra-from Daman to Goa
c. Cannara coast in Karnataka- from Goa to Cannanore. It is the narrowest part of the western
coastal plains. Here the Sharavati River, before entering the plains, descends down a 275 m
high cliff and forms the Gersoppa Falls (Jog Falls).
d. Malabar coast in Kerala- from Cannanore to Cape Comorin. The coast has got certain
distinguishing features in the form of ‘Kayals’ (backwaters), which are used for fishing,
inland navigation and also due to its special attraction for tourists.
2. THE EASTERN COASTAL PLAINS

o Extent: It extends from the Ganga delta in the north to Kanyakumari in south.
o Features: The eastern coastal plain is broader and is an example of an emergent coast.
a. There are well developed deltas here, formed by the rivers flowing eastward in to the Bay of
Bengal.
b. Because of its emergent nature, it has less number of ports and harbours.
c. The continental shelf extends up to 500 km into the sea, which makes it difficult for the
development of good ports and harbours.
d. Lake Chilka and Pulicat are the famous brackish water lakes while Kolleru is the fresh water
lake between Krishna- Godavari deltas.
o Sub-division: It is referred to as:
a. the Northern Circar, in the northern part
b. the Coromandel Coast, in the southern part
THE ISLANDS
 There are two major island groups in India –
1. ANDAMAN & NICOBAR GROUP (Bay of Bengal)
a. They are continuation of Arakan Yoma ranges of Mayanmar and form an elevated portion
of submarine mountains.

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b. However, some smaller islands are volcanic in origin. Barren island, the only active volcano
in India is also situated in the Nicobar islands.
c. These are situated roughly between 6°N-14°N and 92°E -94°E.
d. They are divided into two broad categories –
o the Andaman in the north
o the Nicobar in the south.
e. They are separated by a water body which is called the Ten degree channel.
f. The Duncan Passage separates Little Andaman and Great Andaman.
g. The coastal line has some coral deposits, like Car Nicobar island.
h. Some important mountain peaks in Andaman and Nicobar islands are Saddle peak (North
Andaman – 738 m), Mount Diavolo (Middle Andaman – 515 m), Mount Koyob (South
Andaman – 460 m) and Mount Thuiller (Great Nicobar – 642 m).
2. LAKSHWADEEP & MINICOY ISLANDS (Arabian Sea)
a. These are scattered between 8°N- 12°N and 71°E -74°E.
b. The entire island group is built of coral deposits.
c. The entire group of islands is broadly divided by the Eleventh degree channel, north of
which is the AminiIsland and to the south of the Canannore Island.
d. Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy islands and Maldives.
e. Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy islands and main Lakshadweep islands.
*****

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3. DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF INDIA
DEFINITIONS
1. DRAINAGE: The flow of water through well defined channels.
2. DRAINAG BASIN: An area drained by a river and its tributaries.
3. CATCHMENT AREA: A river drains the water collected from a specific area, which is called its
‘catchment area’.
4. RIVER BASIN: The catchments of large rivers.
5. WATERSHED: The catchment area of small rivulets and rills are often referred to as watersheds.
6. WATER DIVIDE: Are the hills and ridges that separate two drainage basins.
7. DRAINAGE PATTERN:
a. Dendritic: The drainage pattern resembling the branches of a tree is known as “dendritic”,
the examples of which are the rivers of northern plain.
b. Radial: When the rivers originate from a hill and flow in all directions, the drainage pattern is
known as ‘radial’. The rivers originating from the Amarkantak range present a good example
of it.
c. Trellis: When the primary tributaries of rivers flow parallel to each other and secondary
tributaries join them at right angles, the pattern is known as ‘trellis’.
d. Centripetal: When the rivers discharge their waters from all directions in a lake or
depression, the pattern is known as ‘centripetal’.
e. Rectangular: In peninsular India, river flow in faults and fractures of rocks often at right
angles to show rectangular pattern.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF INDIA

SR. ASPECT HIMALAYAN RIVER PENINSULAR RIVER
1 Place of origin Himalayan mountains Peinsular plateau and central
highland
2 Nature of fow Perennial Seasonal
3 Type of drainage Antecedent and consequent leading to Super imposed,
dendritic pattern in plains rejuvenated resulting

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intrellis, radial and

rectangular pattern
4 Nature of river Long course flowing through rugged Smaller, fixed course
mountains experiencing headward with well adjusted
erosion and river capturing valleys
5 Catchment area Very large basins Relatively small
basins
6 Age of the river Young and youthful Old rivers with graded
profile and
have almost
reached their base
level
 The Drainage system of India is an outcome of physiography and characteristics of precipitation.

On the basis of the mode of origin and naure, it can be classified into:
o The Himalayan drainage system
o The Peninsular drainage system
THE HIMALAYAN DRAINAGE SYSTEM

1. THE INDUS SYSTEM
 River Indus:
a. The total length of the Indus River system is 2,880 km (in India 1,114 km).
b. The Indus, which is also known as the Sindhu, is the westernmost of the Himalayan Rivers in
India.
c. It originates from a glacier near Bokhar Chu, near Mansarovar in the Tibetan region at an
altitude of 4,164 m in the Kailash Mountain range.
d. In Tibet, the Indus is known as Singi Khambanor, the Lion’s mouth.
e. Major tributaries of Indus:
o In the upper part- the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Zaskar, the Hunza, the Nubra, the Shigar, the
Gasting, and the Dras.
o In the lower part, the Satluj, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab, and the Jhelum are the major
tributaries of the Indus.
 River Jhelum:
a. Rises from a spring at Verinag situated at the foot of the Pir Panjal in the south-eastern part
of the valley of Kashmir.
b. It flows through Srinagar and the Wular lake before entering Pakistan through a deep
narrow gorge.
c. Flows along India-Pakistan border for around 170 kms.
d. Kishanganga is an important right bank tributary.
 River Chenab:
a. The Chenab is the largest tributary of the Indus.

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b. It is formed by two streams, the Chandra and the Bhaga, which originate near Bara Lacha
pass in Himachal pradesh and join at Tandi near Keylong in Himachal Pradesh. Hence, it is
also known as Chandrabhaga.
c. Its flows in the state of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
 River Ravi:
a. It rises west of the Rohtang pass in the Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh and flows through
the Chamba valley.
b. It drains the area lying between the south-eastern part of the Pir Panjal and the Dhauladhar
ranges.
c. It drains the area of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
d. Second longest tributary of Indus.
 River Beas:
a. Originating from the Beas Kund near the Rohtang Pass at an elevation of 4,000 m above the
mean sea level.
b. The river flows through the Kullu valley and forms gorges at Kati and Largi in the Dhaoladhar
range.
c. It enters the Punjab plains where it meets the Satluj near Harike and flows in Himachal
Pradesh and Punjab.
d. It is the only river in Indus system which flows entirely in India.
e. Shortest tributary of Indus.
 River Satluj:
a. The Satluj originates in the Rakas lake near Mansarovar at an altitude of 4,555 m in Tibet
where it is known as Langchen Khambab.
b. It flows almost parallel to the Indus for about 400 km before entering India, and comes out
of a gorge at Rupar.
c. It passes through the Shipki La on the Himalayan ranges and enters the Punjab plains.
d. It is an antecedent river and is a very important tributary as it feeds the canal system of the
Bhakra Nangal project.
e. Longest tributary that flows through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in India.

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2. THE GANGA RIVER SYSTEM

 River Ganga
a. It rises as Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh (3,900 m) in the Uttarkashi
district of Uttarakhand. It cuts through the Central and the Lesser Himalayas in narrow
gorges.
b. At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi meets the Alaknanda, which has its source in the Satopanth
glacier above Badrinath, here after, it is known as the Ganga.
c. The river has a length of 2,525 km. It is shared by Uttarakhand (110 km) and Uttar Pradesh
(1,450 km), Bihar (445 km) and West Bengal (520 km).
d. The important tributaries:
o In the left bank- the Ramganga, the Gomati, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, the Kosi and the
Mahananda.
o In the right bank- Yamuna and Son.
 River Yamuna:
a. The western most and the longest tributary of the Ganga, has its source in the Yamunotri
glacier on the western slopes of Banderpunch range.
b. It joins the Ganga at Prayag (Allahabad).
c. Important tribuaries are:
o In the right bank- The Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa, the Ken and the Tons
o In the left bank- The Hindan, the Rind, the Sengar, the Varuna, etc.
d. The states of Uttarakhand (21.5%), Himachal Pradesh (1.6%), Haryana (6.5%), Rajasthan
(29.8%), Madhya Pradesh (40.6%) and Delhi (0.4%) accounts for its basin.
 River Chambal:
a. The Chambal rises near Mhow in the Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh and flows
northwards through a gorge up wards of Kota in Rajasthan, where the Gandhisagar dam has
been constructed.
b. Then after passing through Bundi, Sawai Madhopur it joins Yamuna in Etawah district of U.P.
c. Flows in a rift valley.
d. The Chambal is famous for its badland topography called the Chambal ravines.
e. Banas, Kalisind and Parvati are its important tributaries.
f. It flows through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
 River Son:
a. The Son is a large south bank tributary of the Ganga, originating in the Amarkantak plateau
and joins the Ganga near Patna in Bihar.
b. The river Rihand and North Koel are its main tributaries.
 River Ghaghara:

P a g e | 18
a. The Ghaghara originates in the glaciers of Mapchachungo in Tibet. It flows through Nepal as
Karnaili river.
b. The river Sarda, Saryu, and Rapti are its tributaries.
c. It meets the Ganga at Chhapra, in Bihar.
 River Gandak:
a. The Gandak comprises two streams, namely Kaligandak and Trishulganga.
b. It rises in the Nepal Himalayas between the Dhaulagiri and Mount Everest and drains the
central part of Nepal.
c. It enters the Ganga plain in Champaran district of Bihar and joins the Ganga at Sonpur near
Patna.
 River Kosi:
a. The Kosi is an antecedent river with its source to the north of Mount Everest in Tibet, where
its main stream Arun rises.
b. After crossing the Central Himalayas in Nepal, it is joined by the Son Kosi from the West and
the Tamur Kosi from the east. It forms Sapt Kosi after uniting with the river Arun.
c. It joins Ganga at Kursela, Bihar. The river shifts it course frequently resulting in devastating
floods in Bihar.
d. It is therefore called “Sorrow of Bihar”.
 River Damodar:
a. The Damodar occupies the eastern margins of the Chotanagpur Plateau where it flows
through a rift valley and finally joins the Hugli near Fulta.
b. The Barakar is its main tributary.
c. Once known as the ‘sorrow of Bengal’, the Damodar has been now tamed by the Damodar
Valley corporation, a multi-purpose project.
3. THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM

 Has its origin in the Chemayungdung glacier of the Kailash range near the Mansarovar lake.
 It traverses eastward longitudinally for a distance of nearly 1,200 km in a dry and flat region of
southern Tibet, where it is known as the Tsangpo, which means ‘the purifier.’
 It creates a deep gorge by cutting through the Himalayas near Namcha Barwa. The river emerges
from the foothills under the name of Siang or Dihang.
 It enters India west of Sadiya town in Arunachal Pradesh. Flowing southwest, it receives its main
left bank tributaries, viz., Dibang or Sikang and Lohit; thereafter, it is known as the
Brahmaputra.
 The Brahmaputra enters into Bangladesh near Dhubri and flows southward. In Bangladesh, the
Tista joins it on its right bank from where the river is known as the Yamuna. It finally merges
with the river Padma, which falls in the Bay of Bengal.
 The Brahmaputra is well-known for floods, channel shifting and bank erosion. This is due to the
fact that most of its tributaries are large, and bring large quantity of sediments owing to heavy
rainfall in its catchment area.

P a g e | 19
 Barak River:
a. It rises in the Manipur hills and passes through Mizoram before it enters the plains of Assam
near Lakhipur.
b. Downstream of Silchar town and before entering Bangladesh the Barak bifurcates into the
Surma River and the Kushiyara River.
c. Later, the river is called the Meghna and receives the combined flow of the Ganga and
Brahmaputra.
d. The principal tributaries of the Barak in India are the Jirl, the Dhaleshwari, the Singla, the
Longai, the Sonai and the Katakhal.
PENINSULAR DRAINAGE SYSTEM

 Three major geological events in the distant past have shaped the present drainage systems of
Peninsular India:
o Subsidence of the western flank of the Peninsula leading to its submergence below the sea
during the early tertiary period, leaving just the upper part of the west flowing rivers above sea
level.
o Upheaval of the Himalayas when the northern flank of the Peninsular block was subjected to
subsidence and the consequent trough faulting. The Narmada and The Tapi flow in trough faults.
o Slight tilting of the Peninsular block from northwest to the south- eastern direction gave
orientation to the entire drainage system towards the Bay of Bengal during the same period.
 The east flowing rivers of Peninsular India:
o River Mahanadi:
a. The Mahanadi rises near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh (Dandkaranya plateau) and
runs through Odisha to discharge its water into the Bay of Bengal.
b. Its drainage basin lies in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
c. The river Seonath, Hasdo, Mand, Ib and Tel are its tributaries.
o River Godavari:
a. The Godavari is the largest peninsular river system. It is also called the Dakshin Ganga.
b. It rises in the Tryambak plateau, Nasik district, Maharashtra and discharges its water into
the Bay of Bengal.
c. Its tributaries run through the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh.
d. The Penganga, the Indravati, the Pranhita, and the Manjra are its principal tributaries.
e. The Godavari is subjected to heavy floods in its lower reaches to the south of Polavaram,
where it forms a picturesque gorge.
o River Krishna:
a. The Krishna is the second largest east flowing Peninsular river which rises near
Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri.
b. The Koyna, the Tungbhadra, Musi, Malaprabha, Ghataprabha and the Bhima are its major
tributaries.

P a g e | 20
c. The catchment area of the Krishna, lies in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana.
o River Kaveri:
a. The Kaveri rises in Brahmagiri hills (1,341m) of Kogadu district in Karnataka.
b. Since the upper catchment area receives rainfall during the southwest monsoon season
(summer) and the lower part during the northeast monsoon season (winter), the river
carries water throughout the year with comparatively less fluctuation than the other
Peninsular rivers.
c. The Kaveri basin falls in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
d. Its important tributaries joining from left are the Harangi, the Hemavati, the Shimsha and
the Arkavati whereas the Lakshmantirtha, the Kabbani, the Suvarnavati, the Bhavani, and
the Amaravati joins from right.
e. The river descends from south Karnataka plateau to Tamil Nadu plains through the famous
Sivasamundram waterfall.
 River Penner and Palaroriginating in Karnataka and River Vaigai originating in Tamil Nadu are
other important East flowing rivers of Peninsular India.
 West flowing rivers of Peninsular India:
o River Narmada:
a. The Narmada originates on the western flank of the Amarkantak plateau.
b. Flowing in a rift valley between the Satpura in the south and the Vindhyan range in the
north, it forms a picturesque gorge in marble rocks and Dhuandhar waterfall near Jabalpur.
c. After flowing a distance of about 1,312 km, it meets the Arabian sea south of Bharuch,
forming a broad 27 km long estuary.
d. There are several island in the estuary of which Aliabet is the largest.
e. Since the river flows through a narrow valley, it does not have major tributaries with the
exception of Hiran river on its right bank.
o River Tapi:
a. It originates from Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh.
b. Nearly 79 per cent of its basin lies in Maharashtra, 15 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and the
remaining 6 per cent in Gujarat.
c. Purna river is the major tributary
o River Luni:
a. Luni is the largest river system of Rajasthan, west of Aravali branches, i.e. the Saraswati and
the Sabarmati, which join with each other at Govindgarh.
b. It flows towards the west till Telwara and then takes a southwest direction to join the Rann
of Kuchchh.
c. The entire river system is ephemeral.
o River Sabarmati:

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a. It is the combined stream of Sabar and Hathmati, rising from the hills of Mewar in Aravali
range.
b. The Sabarmati basin extends over states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
c. Ahmedabad is an industrial city situated on the banks of Sabarmati.
Peninsular Drainage System
West flowing rivers of Peninsular East flowing rivers

India of Peninsular India
Flows into Arabian sea Flows into Bay of Bengal
Do not have extensive network of Have extensive network of tributaries
tributaries
Small catchment area Large catchment area
Valley floors are above sea level Valley floors are at sea level
Form estuaries Form Deltas
*****

P a g e | 22
4. INDIAN CLIMATE
 India’s climate is controlled by a number of factors which can be broadly divided into two
groups:
o factors related to location and relief
o factors related to air pressure and winds.

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FACTORS RELATED TO LOCATION & RELIEF

1. Latitude:
a. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the central part of India in east-west direction.
b. Thus, northern part of the India lies in sub-tropical and temperate zone and the part lying
south of the Tropic of Cancer falls in the tropical zone.
c. The tropical zone being nearer to the equator, experiences high temperatures throughout
the year with small daily and annual range.
d. Area north of the Tropic of Cancer being away from the equator, experiences extreme
climate with high daily and annual range of temperature.
2. The Himalayan Mountains:

a. The Himalayas protect the subcontinent from the cold northern winds
b. They also trap the monsoon winds, forcing them to shed their moisture within the
subcontinent.
3. Distribution of Land and Water:

a. The differential heating of land and sea creates different air pressure zones in different
seasons in and around the Indian subcontinent.
b. Difference in air pressure causes reversal in the direction of monsoon winds.
4. Distance from the Sea:

a. With a long coastline, large coastal areas have an equable climate.
b. Areas in the interior of India are far away from the moderating influence of the sea. Such
areas have extremes of climate.
5. Altitude:
a. Temperature decreases with height.
b. Due to thin air, places in the mountains are cooler than places on the plains.
6. Relief:
a. The physiography or relief of India also affects the temperature, air pressure, direction and
speed of wind
b. It also affects the amount and distribution of rainfall.
FACTORS RELATED TO AIR PRESSURE & WIND

 The pressure and wind conditions over India are unique.
1. Surface Pressure & Winds:

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a. During winter, there is a high-pressure area north of the Himalayas. Cold dry winds blow
from this region to the low-pressure areas over the oceans to the south.
b. In summer, a low-pressure area develops over interior Asia as well as over northwestern
India. This causes a complete reversal of the direction of winds during summer.
c. Air moves from the high-pressure area over the southern Indian Ocean, in a south-easterly
direction, crosses the equator, and turns right towards the low- pressure areas over the
Indian subcontinent.
d. These are known as the Southwest Monsoon winds. These winds blow over the warm
oceans, gather moisture and bring widespread rainfall over the mainland of India.
2. Jet Streams & Upper Air Circulation:

a. Over India, these jet streams blow south of the Himalayas, all through the year except in
summer.
b. The western cyclonic disturbances experienced in the north and north- western parts of the
country are brought in by this westerly flow.
c. In summer, the subtropical westerly jet stream moves north of the Himalayas with the
apparent movement of the sun.
d. An easterly jet stream blows over peninsular India, approximately over 14°N during the
summer months.
3. Tropical Cyclone:
a. The frequency and direction of tropical cyclone, developed in Bay of Bengal influence the
weather conditions during southwest monsoon over most parts of India.
ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillations) & La Nina

There is a reversal in the pressure conditions in southern oceans and the
eastern Pacific has lower pressure in comparison to the eastern Indian
Ocean. This periodic change in pressure conditions is known as the
Southern Oscillation or SO.
The difference in pressure over Tahiti in Pacific Ocean and Darwin in
northern Australia is computed to predict the intensity of the monsoons.
If the pressure differences were negative, it would mean below average
and late monsoons.
A feature connected with the SO is the El Nino phenomenon in which a
warm ocean current that flows past the Peruvian Coast, in place of the
cold Peruvian current, every 2 to 5 years.
The changes in pressure conditions are connected to the El Nino. Hence,
the phenomenon is referred to as ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillations).
La nina: mostly causes the opposite effects of El Nino, Postive effect on
Indian monsson across the northern, midwest, southern and eastern
regions.
INDIAN MONSOON

P a g e | 25
 The climate of India is strongly influenced by monsoon winds. The southwest monsoon is a
continuation of the southeast trades deflected towards the Indian subcontinent after crossing
the Equator.
 Following factors affect the Indian Monsoon:
o The differential heating and cooling of land and water creates low pressure on the
landmass of India while the seas around experience comparatively high pressure.
o The shift of the position of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in summer, over the
Ganga plain (this is the equatorial trough normally positioned about 5°N of the equator. It is
also known as the monsoon trough during the monsoon season).
o The presence of the high-pressure area, east of Madagascar, approximately at 20°S over
the Indian Ocean. The intensity and position of this high-pressure area affects the Indian
Monsoon.
o The Tibetan plateau gets intensely heated during summer, which results in strong vertical
air currents and the formation of low pressure over the plateau at about 9 km above sea
level.
o The movement of the westerly jet stream to the north of the Himalayas and the presence
of the tropical easterly jet stream over the Indian peninsula during summer.
o Changes in the pressure conditions over the southern oceans (ENSO) also affect the
monsoons.
THE NATURE OF INDIAN MONSOON

 Onset of the monsoon- The northward shift in the position of the ITCZ due to differential
heating of land and sea (thus pressure difference) is the trigger for the birth of Monsoon which
is further affected by other above mentioned factors.
1. Advance/Path of Monsoon in India:

a. The monsoon arrives at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula generally by the first week
of June.
b. Subsequently, it proceeds into two –
o the Arabian Sea branch- reaches Mumbai ten days later and is a fairly rapid advance.
o the Bay of Bengal branch- also advances rapidly and arrives in Assam in the first week of
June. The lofty mountains causes the monsoon winds to deflect towards the west over
the Ganga plains.
c. By mid-June, the Arabian Sea branch of the monsoon arrives over Saurashtra-Kuchchh and
the central part of the country.
d. Both the branches of the monsoon merge over the north-western part of the Ganga plains.
Delhi generally receives the monsoon showers from the Bay of Bengal branch by the end of
June (tentative date is 29th of June).
e. By the first week of July, western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and eastern Rajasthan
experience the monsoon. By mid-July, the monsoon reaches Himachal Pradesh and the rest
of the country.

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2. Break in the Monsoon:

a. During the south-west monsoon period, after having rains for a few days, if rain fails to occur
for one or more weeks, it is known as break in the monsoon.
b. These dry spells are quite common during the rainy season. These breaks in the different
regions are due to different reasons:
o In northern India, rains are likely to fail if the rain-bearing storms are not very frequent
along the monsoon trough or the ITCZ over this region.
o Over the west coast, the dry spells are associated with days when winds blow parallel to
the coast.
3. Retreat of Monsoon:
a. In September, the sun is again at equator therefore shifting of pressure belt to normal
position and thus no S-W monsoon winds.
b. Rather the gradient of pressure is from land to sea (as sea is warm as compared to land).
Thus a N-W wind blow called retreating monsoon.
c. Withdrawal or the retreat of the monsoon is a more gradual process.
o The withdrawal of the monsoon begins in north-western states of India by early
September. By mid- October, it withdraws completely from the northern half of the
peninsula.
o The withdrawal from the southern half of the peninsula is fairly rapid. By early
December, the monsoon has withdrawn from the rest of the country.
METEOROLOGICAL SEASONS OVER INDIA
Winter Season/ the cold weather season December – February

Pre Monsoon Season/ the hot weather season March – May
Southwest Monsoon Season June - September
Post Monsoon Season/retreating Monsoon October – November
season
1. THE COLD WEATHER SEASON

a. The mean daily temperature remains below 21°C over most parts of northern India. The night
temperature may be quite low, sometimes going below freezing point in Punjab and Rajasthan.
b. The Peninsular region of India, however, does not have any well- defined cold weather season
because of:
o moderating influence of the sea
o proximity to equator.
c. The weather in this season is characterised by feeble high pressure conditions over the northern
plain. In south India, the air pressure is slightly lower.
d. As a result, winds start blowing from north- western high pressure zone to the low air pressure
zone over the Indian Ocean in the south.
e. Western Disturbances:

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o The pleasant weather conditions, however, at intervals, get disturbed by shallow cyclonic
depressions originating over the east Mediterranean Sea and travelling eastwards across
West Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before they reach the north-western parts of
India.
o On their way, the moisture content gets augmented from the Caspian Sea in the north and
the Persian Gulf in the south.
o Rainfall in N-W India due to western disturbances, locally known as ‘mahawat’.
o Also the S-E coast of India (coast of Tamil Nadu etc) receives rain from the N-E monsoon.
f. Importance of Western Disturbances for India:
o It is highly beneficial for rabi crops.
o They are the most important source of snow to the Himalayan glacier
o It is this snow that sustains the flow of water in the Himalayan rivers during the summer
months.
2. THE HOT WEATHER SEASON

a. With the apparent northward movement of the sun towards the Tropic of Cancer in March,
temperatures start rising in north India and in the north-western part of India, temperatures
around 48°C are not uncommon in month of May.
b. The hot weather season in south India is mild and not so intense as found in north India.
c. The summer months are a period of excessive heat and falling air pressure in the northern half
of the country. Because of the heating of the subcontinent, the ITCZ moves northwards
occupying a position centred at 25°N in July.
d. In the heart of the ITCZ in the northwest, the dry and hot winds known as ‘Loo’, blow in the
afternoon, and very often, they continue to well into midnight.
e. Dust storms in the evening are very common during May in Punjab, Haryana, Eastern Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh. These temporary storms bring a welcome respite from the oppressing heat
since they bring with them light rains and a pleasant cool breeze.
f. Heat Wave: continuous spell of abnormally hot weather.
o Heat Waves typically occur between March and June, and in some rare cases even extend
till July.
o The extreme temperatures and resultant atmospheric conditions adversely affect people
living in these regions as they cause physiological stress, sometimes resulting in death.
3. SOUTHWEST MONSOON SEASON

a. The shift of ITCZ triggers the South-west monsoon in India. It approaches the Indian landmass in
two branches-
o The Arabian Sea branch
o The Bay of Bengal branch and causes rainfall nearly all over India.
b. The Arabian Sea gives very heavy rainfall, to the windward side of Western Ghats. The Deccan
Plateau recieves less than 150 cm. Further east, rainfall decreases. These winds, advance
northward, attracted to the low pressure in India. Punjab at the foothills of the Shivaliks gets
Relief rainfall.

P a g e | 28
c. The Bay of Bengal branch, is deflected by the Arakhan Mountains of Myanmar and the
northeast of India towards the Gangetic Plains. The Ganga-Brahmaputra elta and the windward
side of the northeast hills, get heavy rain.
d. The rainfall decreases as the winds reach the eastern Himalayas and blow westward into the
Ganga plain, attracted by the low pressure by the low pressure in Punjab and Rajasthan.
4. RETREATING MONSOON SEASON

a. By the end of September, the southwest monsoon becomes weak as the low pressure trough of
the Ganga plain starts moving southward in response to the southward march of the sun.
b. The retreating southwest monsoon season is marked by clear skies and rise in temperature. The
land is still moist.
c. Owing to the conditions of high temperature and humidity, the weather becomes rather
oppressive. This is commonly known as the ‘October heat’.
d. In the second half of October, the mercury begins to fall rapidly, particularly in northern India.
The weather in the retreating monsoon is dry in north India but it is associated with rain in the
eastern part of the Peninsula.
e. Here, October and November are the rainiest months of the year. The widespread rain in this
season is associated with the passage of cyclonic depressions which originate over the Andaman
Sea and manage to cross the eastern coast of the southern Peninsula.
f. These tropical cyclones are very destructive. The thickly populated deltas of the Godavari,
Krishna and Kaveri are their preferred targets.
DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL
 The average annual rainfall in India is about 125 cm, but it has great spatial variations.
o Areas of High Rainfall: It occurs along the west coast, on the Western Ghats, as well as in the
sub-Himalayan areas in the northeast and the hills of Meghalaya (exceeds 200 cm). In some
parts of Khasi and Jaintia hills, the rainfall exceeds 1,000 cm. In the Brahmaputra valley and the
adjoining hills, the rainfall is less than 200 cm.
o Areas of Medium Rainfall: Rainfall between 100-200 cm is received in the southern parts of
Gujarat, east Tamil Nadu, northeastern Peninsula covering Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, eastern
Madhya Pradesh, northern Ganga plain along the sub-Himalayas and the Cachar Valley and
Manipur.
o Areas of Low Rainfall: Western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir,
eastern Rajasthan, Gujarat and Deccan Plateau receive rainfall between 50-100 cm.
o Areas of Inadequate Rainfall: Parts of the Peninsula, especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Maharashtra, Ladakh and most of western Rajasthan receive rainfall below 50 cm. Snowfall
is restricted to the Himalayan region.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONSOON RAINFALL

 Monsoonal rainfall is largely governed by relief or topography and has a declining trend with
increasing distance from the sea.

P a g e | 29
 The monsoon rains occur in wetspells of few days duration at a time. The wet spells are
interspersed with rainless interval known as ‘breaks’.
 The summer rainfall comes in a heavy downpour leading to considerable run off and soil
erosion.
 Monsoons play a pivotal role in the agrarian economy of India because over three-fourths of the
total rain in the country is received during the southwest monsoon season.
 Its spatial distribution is also uneven which ranges from 12 cm to more than 250 cm.
 The beginning of the rains sometimes is considerably delayed over the whole or a part of the
country.
 The rains sometimes end considerably earlier than usual, causing great damage to standing
crops and making the sowing of winter crops difficult.
CLIMATIC REGIONS OF INDIA

 Koeppen based his scheme of Climatic classification on monthly values of temperature and
precipitation. He identified five major climatic types, namely:
i. Tropical climates, where mean monthly temperature throughout the year is over 18°C.
ii. Dry climates, where precipitation is very low in comparison to temperature, and hence, dry.
If dryness is less, it is semi-arid; if it is more, the climate is arid.
iii. Warm temperate climates, where mean temperature of the coldest month is between 18°C
and minus 3°C.
iv. Cool temperate climates, where mean temperature of the warmest month is over 10°C, and
mean temperature of the coldest month is under minus 3°C.
v. Ice climates, where mean temperature of the warmest month is under 10°C.
*****
5. SOILS
 Soil is the mixture of rock debris and organic materials which develop on the earth’s surface.
 Pedologyis the study of soils in their natural environment.
 Pedogenesis is the natural process of soil formation that includes a variety of processes such as
weathering, leaching, calcification etc.
 The major factors affecting the formation of soil are relief, parent material, climate, vegetation
and other life-forms and time. Besides these, human activities also influence it to a large extent.
FACTORS AFFECTING SOIL FORMATION

1. RELIEF
a. Height and the Slope are the two important factors governing soil formation process.
b. Angle of slope decides the rate and type of weathering,
o at steep slopes, physical weathering takes place at high rate resulting in thin layer of soil
formation

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o gentle slope supports chemical weathering at slow rate and results in thick layer of soil.
c. Direction of slope also affect the soil formation process as solar insolation depends on this
say in northern hemisphere the south facing slopes a hill in high latitude receives solar
energy.
2. PARENT MATERIAL
a. The parent material determines the colour, mineral composition and texture of the derived
soils.
b. Say parent material resistant to weathering produces a coarse grain soil and the fine grain
soils are formed when parent material readily weathers like sedimentary rocks.
3. CLIMATE
a. It is the most important factor in Pedogenesis and affects both vegetative production and
the activity of organisms.
b. Hot, dry desert regions have sparse vegetation and hence limited organic material available
for the soil. The lack of precipitation inhibits chemical weathering leading to coarse textured
soil in arid regions.
c. Bacterial activity is limited by the cold temperatures in the tundra causing organic matter to
build up. In the warm and wet tropics, bacterial activity proceeds at a rapid rate, thoroughly
decomposing leaf litter.
d. The high annual precipitation also flushes some organic material from the soil. These factors
combine to create soils lacking much organic matter in their upper horizons.
e. Climate, interacting with vegetation, also affects soil chemistry. Quantity and quality of
vegetation also affect the soil formation process, say roots of some trees goes deep into the
soil and enters the fracture of the rock and widens it leading to physical weathering of rock
SOIL FORMING PROCESSES

 It depends mainly on the climatic conditions.
1. Laterization:
a. In hot and humid climate.
b. Strong chemical reactions dissolves the rocks thoroughly leaving behind only insoluble salts
like Fe and Al.
c. No humus as it is leached away. Only have residual of rocks i.e Fe oxide and Al oxide.
d. Soil formed is Laterite and is infertile for agriculture as no plant nutrient.
2. Podsolization:
a. Cold and humid climate (in regions of conifer vegetation).
b. No chemical reaction as absence of heat so immature soil formed by physical weathering.
c. Lots of litter as no bacterial action in cold climate.
d. Soil formed is Podsol.
e. Agriculturally infertile as minerals are not broken down therefore no release of nutrients.

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3. Gleization:
a. Gleization is a pedogenic process associated with poor drainage.
b. This process involves the accumulations of organic matter in the upper layers of the soil.
c. In lower horizons, mineral layers are stained blue-gray because of the chemical reduction of
iron.
d. Soils formed are called Bob soils or Histosols.
4. Salinisation:
a. In hot and dry climate (hot deserts).
b. Rich in water soluble salts brought to surface by capillary action.
c. No humus as deserted condition.
d. Immature soils as generated by physical weathering only.
SOIL HORIZON
O1 Undecomposed organic matter
O2 Partly decomposed organic matter
A Have humus and plant nutrients Also called elluvial horizon
called top soil
B Mixture of soil particle and mineral Also called illuvial horizon as it
grain, called sub soil receives the elluviation particles
C Regoliths
D Rockbed
CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
 On the basis of genesis, colour, composition and location, the soils of India have been classified
into:
o Alluvial soils
o Black soils
o Red and Yellow soils
o Laterite soils
o Arid soils
o Saline soils
o Peaty soils
o Forest soils.

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1. ALLUVIAL SOIL
a. They are depositional soils,
transported and deposited by rivers and
streams.
b. Alluvial soils are widespread in the
northern plains and the river valleys.
o Through a narrow corridor in Rajasthan, they extend into the plains of Gujarat.
o In the Peninsular region, they are found in deltas of the east coast and in the river
valleys.
c. The colour of the alluvial soils varies from ‘the light grey to ash grey’.
d. In the Upper and Middle Ganga plain, two different types of alluvial soils have developed,
viz. Khadar and Bhangar.
o Khadar is the new alluvium and is deposited by floods annually, which enriches the soil
by depositing fine silts.
o Bhangar represents a system of older alluvium, deposited away from the flood plains.
e. The alluvial soils vary in nature from sandy, loam to clay.
f. They are generally rich in potash but poor in phosphorous. It is the most fertile soil
supporting variety of crops and are Azonal soils.
2. BLACK SOIL
a. These soils are also known as the ‘Regur Soil’ or the ‘Black Cotton Soil’.
b. The black soils are generally clayey, deep and impermeable and are mature soils.

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c. They swell and become sticky when wet and shrink when dried. So, during the dry season,
these soil develop wide cracks. Thus, there occurs a kind of ‘self ploughing’.
d. Because of this character, the black soil retains the moisture for a very long time, which
helps the crops, especially, the rain fed ones, to sustain even during the dry season.
e. Chemically, the black soils are rich in lime, iron, magnesia and alumina. They also contain
potash.
f. But they lack in phosphorous, nitrogen and organic matter.
g. The colour of the soil ranges from deep black to grey.
h. Black soil covers most of the Deccan Plateau which includes parts of Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Tamil Nadu.
i. They are Zonal soils.
3. RED AND YELLOW SOIL

a. Red soils are derived from weathering of old crystalline and metamorphic rocks under dry
condition.
b. They are found in areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern part of the Deccan
Plateau, along the piedmont zone of the Western Ghat, in parts of Odisha and Chattisgarh
and in the southern parts of the middle Ganga plain.
c. The soil develops a reddish colour due to a wide diffusion of iron in crystalline and
metamorphic rocks. It looks yellow when it occurs in a hydrated form. Often their upper
layer is red and the lower layer is yellow.
d. The fine-grained red and yellow soils are normally fertile, whereas coarse-grained soils
found in dry upland areas are poor in fertility.
e. They are generally poor in nitrogen, phosphorous and humus and are Zonal soils.
4. LATERITE SOIL
a. The laterite soils develop in areas with high temperature and high rainfall.
b. These are the result of intense leaching due to tropical rains. Lime and silica are leached
away, and soils rich in iron oxide and aluminium compound, which are relatively insoluble,
are left behind.
c. Humus content of the soil is removed fast by bacteria that thrives well in high temperature.
d. These soils are poor in organic matter, nitrogen, phosphate and calcium, while iron oxide
and potash are in excess.
e. Hence, laterites are not suitable for cultivation; however, application of manures and
fertilisers are required for making the soils fertile for cultivation.
f. Red laterite soils in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are more suitable for tree crops
like cashewnut. Laterite soils are widely cut as bricks for use in house construction.
g. These soils have mainly developed in the higher areas of the Peninsular plateau. The
laterite soils are commonly found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the
hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.
h. They are Zonal soils.
5. ARID SOIL

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a. Found in region of dry climate with high temperature and accelerated evaporation, arid soils
range from red to brown in colour.
b. They are generally sandy in structure and saline in nature.
c. They lack moisture and humus. Nitrogen is insufficient and the phosphate content is normal.
d. Lower horizons of the soil are occupied by ‘kankar’ layers because of the increasing calcium
content downwards. The ‘Kankar’ restricts the infiltration of water, and as such when
irrigation is made available, the soil moisture is readily available for a sustainable plant
growth.
e. Arid soils are characteristically developed in western Rajasthan.
f. Coarse grain like Bajra, Jowar etc. are grown in these soils.
6. SALINE SOIL
a. They occur in arid and semi-arid regions, and in waterlogged and swampy areas. So they are
widespread in Rann of Kachchh, deltas of eastern coast and Sunderban areas of West
Bengal.
b. In the areas of intensive cultivation with excessive use of irrigation, especially in areas of
green revolution, the fertile alluvial soils are becoming saline. They are also known as Usara
soils.
c. Saline soils contain a larger proportion of sodium, potassium and magnesium, and thus,
they are infertile.
d. Their structure ranges from sandy to loamy and lack in nitrogen and calcium.
e. Farmers are advised to add gypsum to solve the problem of salinity in the soil.
7. PEATY SOIL
a. They are found in the areas of heavy rainfall and high humidity, where there is a good
growth of vegetation. Thus, they occurs widely in the northern part of Bihar, southern part
of Uttarakhand and the coastal areas of West Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.
b. Accumulation of large quantity of dead organic matter in these areas gives a rich humus and
organic content to the soil.
c. These soils are normally heavy and black in colour. At many places, they are alkaline also.
8. FOREST SOIL
a. The soils vary in structure and texture depending on the mountain environment where they
are formed.
b. They are loamy and silty on valley sides and coarse-grained in the upper slopes.
c. In the snow-bound areas of the Himalayas, they experience denudation, and are acidic with
low humus content.
d. The soils found in the lower valleys are fertile.
e. The slopes are used for Horticulture and plantation crops like apple, tea, coffee etc while
rice and wheat are grown in valleys.
SOIL DEGRADATION

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 Soil degradation is defined as the decline in soil fertility, when the nutritional status declines
and depth of the soil goes down due to erosion and misuse.
 The important causes of Soil degradation in India are listed below-
o Soil Erosion
o Declining fertility (Soil exhaustion)
o Water logging
o Salinity and Alkalinity
o Desertification
SOIL EROSION
 The destruction of the soil cover is described as soil erosion. Wind and water are powerful
agents of soil erosion because of their ability to remove soil and transport it.
1. Water erosion-
a. In regions with heavy rainfall and steep slopes, erosion by running water is more significant.
b. Sheet erosion takes place on level lands after a heavy shower and the soil removal is not
easily noticeable. But it is harmful since it removes the finer and more fertile top soil.
c. When heavy rains continue then finger shaped grooves are formed particularly on steeper
slopes causing Rill erosion.
d. They get further enlarged to form gullies, called Gully erosion. Ravines are most extreme
form of erosion with intricate net work of various forms of gullies.
e. A region with a large number of deep gullies or ravines is called a badland topography.
f. Ravines are widespread, in the Chambal basin. Besides this, they are also found in Tamil
Nadu and West Bengal.
2. Wind erosion-
a. It is common in arid and semi arid areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
b. Soil erosion is a serious problem for Indian agriculture and its negative effects are seen in
other spheres also.
c. Eroded materials are carried down to rivers and they lower down their carrying capacity,
and cause frequent floods and damage to agricultural lands.
SOIL CONSERVATION
 Soil conservation is a methodology to maintain soil fertility, prevent soil erosion and
exhaustion, and improve the degraded condition of the soil.
 It can be achieved through following practices:
1. Contour bunding-
a. It consists of building earthen embankments across the slope of the land, following the
contour as closely as possible.
b. A series of such bunds divide the area into strips and act as barriers to the flow of water,
thus reducing the amount and velocity of the runoff.

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2. Contour ploughing-
a. It is the farming practice of ploughing and or planting across a slope following its elevation
contour lines.
b. These contour lines create a water break which reduces the formation of rills and gullies
during times of heavy water run-off.
3. Cover cropping-
a. A cover crop is a crop planted primarily to manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality etc.
b. It is normally carried out with nitrogen fixing crops that grow fast and require little inputs
like water and additional manuring.
 Regulated forestry, controlled grazing, mixed farming and crop rotation are some of the other
remedial measures which are often adopted to reduce soil erosion.
 Efforts should be made to prevent gully erosion and control their formation.
o Finger gullies can be eliminated by terracing.
o In bigger gullies, the erosive velocity of water may be reduced by constructing a series of
check dams.
o Special attention should be made to control headward extension of gullies. This can be done
by gully plugging, terracing or by planting cover vegetation.
 In arid and semi-arid areas, efforts should be made to protect cultivable lands from
encroachment by sand dunes through developing shelter belts of trees and agro-forestry.
SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

 It is a printed report card issued to farmers once in three years indicating the status of his soil in
terms of 12 parameters.
 Twelve parameters which include major nutrients, pH, total dissolved salts, minor nutrients etc.
are tested — the test results are shown with colour codes for ease of understanding.
 It is also accompanied by an advice on the various fertilizers and other soil amendments the
farmer is supposed to make.
BENEFITS OF SHC
 The existing Nitrogen – Phosphorous – Potassium (NPK) consumption ratio in the country is
skewed at 8.2:3.2:1 (2012-13) as against the preferred ratio of 4:2:1.
 SHC will ensure that farmers do not spend money unnecessarily on purchase of fertilizers by
adding more than required.
 Promotion of integrated nutrient system is expected to reduce the consumption of chemical
fertilizers by 20% thereby easing the fiscal strain on Government.
 Fertilizer sector accounts for a significant percentage of the total subsidies and power
consumption in the country.
 India imports large quantity of various fertilizers to meet the demand — the soil test based
fertilizer usage will reduce import bill and will also ensure higher yields per unit.
 Over a period of time, SHC can determine changes in soil health that are affected by land
management.

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*****
6. NATURAL VEGETATION & WILDLIFE
 Natural vegetation refers to a plant community that has been left undisturbed over a long time,
so as to allow its individual species to adjust themselves to climate and soil conditions as fully as
possible.
 Natural vegetation adapts itself to the factors of natural environment such as climate, soil,
altitude, relief, etc and this is visible in the great variety of natural vegetation found in India.
 On the basis of certain common features such as predominant vegetation type and climatic
regions, Indian forests can be divided into the following groups:
o Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen forests
o Tropical Deciduous forests
o Tropical Thorn forests
o Montane forests
o Littoral and Swamp forests.
1. TROPICAL EVERGREEN & SEMI-EVERGREEN FORESTS

a. Tropical evergreen forests are found in the western slope of the Western Ghats, hills of the
north-eastern region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
b. They are found in warm and humid areas with an annual precipitation of over 200 cm and
mean annual temperature above 22⁰C.
c. They are well stratified forests with dense undergrowth growth followed by short
structured trees and tall trees. Mahagony, ebony, rosewood are index species.
d. The semi-evergreen forests are found in the less rainy parts of Western Ghats, hills of N-E
region and Andaman and Nicobar Island.
e. Such forests have a mixture of evergreen and moist deciduous trees and the under growing
climbers provide an evergreen character to these forests. Main species are white
cedar,hollock and kail.
f. Tropical dry evergreen forests are confined to coastal Tamil Nadu as they get rainfall from
retreating south-west monsoon and North-east monsoon and remains dry in South west
monsoon season.
2. TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FORESTS

a. These are the most widespread forests in India. They are also called the monsoon forests.
b. Moist Deciduous forests are pronounced in the regions which record rainfall between 100-
200 cm.
c. These forests are found in the northeastern states along the foothills of Himalayas, eastern
slopes of the Western Ghats and Odisha.
d. Teak, sal, shisham, mahua, amla, semul, and sandalwood etc. are the main species of these
forests.

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e. Dry Deciduous forests are covers vast areas of the country, where rainfall ranges between
70 -100 cm. On the wetter margins, it has a transition to the moist deciduous, while on the
drier margins to thorn forests.
f. Tendu, amalta, bel, khair, axlewood etc. are the common trees here.
3. TROPICAL THORN FORESTS

a. Tropical thorn forests occur in the in areas which receive rainfall less than 50 cm and consist
of a variety of grasses and shrubs.
b. It includes semi-arid areas of south west Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
c. In these forests, plants remain leafless for most part of the year and give an expression of
scrub vegetation.
d. Important species found are babool, ber, wild date palm, khair, neem, khejri, palas, etc
Altitude Forest Type Species

Above 4000 m Tundra Forest Mosses and lichens
3000-4000 m Alpine Forest Silver firs, junipers, pines,
birch and rhododendrons
2000-3000 m Moist temperate forest Blue pine, spruce
1000-2000 m Wet temperate forest Oak, chestnut, pine, chinar,
deodar (only in wetern
Himalaya)
Foothills of Himalayan deciduous trees
4. MONTANE FORESTS
a. In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to a
corresponding change in natural vegetation.
b. The Himalayan Montane forests show a succession of vegetation from the tropical to the
tundra, which change in with the altitude.
c. These forests are found in rainier areas of the Peninsula and plains of Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar.
They show Parkland appearance as vegetation is scattered with open growth having grass.
d. They are also called Savannahs of India. Species include- Teak, Sal, Shisam, Mahua Tendu,
Palas etc.
e. Peninsular Montane forests The southern mountain forests include the forests found in
three distinct areas of Peninsular India viz; the Western Ghats, the Vindhyas, Satpura and
the Nilgiris.
f. As they are closer to the tropics, and only 1,500 m above the sea level, vegetation is
temperate in the higher regions, and subtropical on the lower regions, especially in Kerala,
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
g. The temperate forests are called Sholas in the Nilgiris, Anaimalai and Palani hills.

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h. These Shola forests are India’s oldest forests and show special characteristic- as they have
stunted Tropical forest ( very dense, hardwood, evergreen )in the temperate climate.
Species include- Laurel, chincona, wattle.
5. LITTORAL & SWAMP FORESTS

a. They can survive and grow both in fresh as well as brackish water and are also called
wetland forest. Occur in and around the deltas, estuaries and creeks prone to tidal
influences (delta or tidal forests).
b. Mangroves grow along the coasts in the salt marshes, tidal creeks, mud flats and estuaries.
They consist of a number of salt- tolerant species of plants.
c. Criss-crossed by creeks of stagnant water and tidal flows, these forests give shelter to a wide
variety of birds.
d. They are highly developed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Sunderbans of West
Bengal. Other areas of significance are the Mahanadi, the Godavari and the Krishna deltas.
MANGROVES
 Mangroves are the halophytic trees and bushes growing below the high water level of the
spring tide in the tropical and subtropical region.
 They survive in the harsh environment say lack of oxygen, high salinity and diurnal tidal
inundation.
How they adapt to this harsh environment?

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 The adaptation includes succulent leaves, sunken stomata, aerial breathing roots called
‘pneumatophores’, higher cellular salt concentration, vivipary, support structure likes stilt roots
and buttresses etc.
ROLE OF MANGROVES
o Mangroves moderate monsoon altidal floods and reduce inundation of coastal lowlands.
o They prevents coastal soil erosion and protects coastal lands from tsunami, hurricanes and
floods.
o Mangroves enhance natural recycling of nutrients.
o Mangrove supports numerous flora, fauna and wild life.
o Provide a safe and favorable environment for breeding, spawning, rearing of several fishes.
o They supplies woods, fire wood, medicinal plants and edible plants to local people.
o They provides numerous employment opportunities to local communities and augments
their livelihood.
THREATS
 They are increasingly threatened by
o biotic pressure
o changing land use pattern
o natural calamities.
MANGROVE COVER IN INDIA

 Mangroves are spread over an area of 4921 sq km (0.15 % of total geographical area) in India,
which is nearly 3.3% of the world’s mangrove vegetation. Sunderbans in West Bengal accounts
for half of the mangrove cover in India.
 According to 2017 Forest Report, there has been increase of 181 sq km in Mangrove cover of the
country as compared to 2015 assessment.

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BAMBOO RESOURCES
 Bamboo belonging to the family of poaceae grows in tropical, sub tropical and temperate
regions of the world. In India they are found in almost all part of India except Kashmir.
 Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants with ability to survive in wide variety of climatic
and edaphic conditions.
o It is capable of growing under soil conditions varying from organically poor to mineral rich
soil and moisture to drought to flooding which makes it effective for reclaiming degraded
lands.
o Bamboo also plays an important role in carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation.
o Their diversity in size, being light yet strong, hard and straight, fast growth and abundance
makes it amenable to versatility of use.
o It is a non-wood forest produce used in furniture, construction, shoots as food, pulp and
paper industry, handicraft and even in channelizing water instead of pipes.
o Bamboo is therefore known as green gold, poor man’s timber etc.
o The total area under bamboo cultivation has shown a increase in 2017 forest survey but with
regional variations. Mizoram shown highest decrease whereas Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra have shown considerable increase.
FOREST FIRES IN INDIA

 Fire has always played an important role in shaping forest since ancient times. Foresters use it as
a tool in scientific forest management as certain species regenerate and establish well under
light fire conditions.
 However, uncontrolled fire is one of the major causes of degradation of forests and loss of
valuable forest resources and the stored carbon.
 Other reasons of forest fires includes-
a. the intentional burning of forest by communities to promote grass growth
b. clearing areas for shifting cultivation
c. clearing forest floor for NTFP collection etc
d. sometimes due to arson specially for hunting wildlife or encroaching forest land.
 Unintentional fires from cigarette/ bidi buts sometimes cause havoc if not noticed at early stage.
Even the invasive species like Lantana Camara make the control of forest fire difficult by
supplying ample fuel .
Policy Framework around Forest Fire Management

 Forestry issues are in the concurrent list of the constitution so both centre and state
governments are enabled to legislate on these matters. While central government can make
laws, implementation of these laws is with states.
 Due to this, prevention and mitigation of wildfires is primarily duty of the state governments
while policy, planning and financing comes under Central Government.

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 In states, there are no separate departments for wildfires and the regular forest department
staff carries out the activities of forest fire management. However, during the forest fire
seasons, the state government recruit the fire watchers.
 At central level, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEFCC) is
responsible for forest conservation and protection.
 This ministry has a “Forest Protection Division” headed by Deputy Inspector General of Forests.
The ministry had come up with a Modern Forest Fire Control Methods scheme in which the
states are provided financial assistance for fire prevention and control.
Forest Fires and Community Involvement
 The Joint Forest Management (JFM) Committees established at the village level are expected to
involve people in forest protection and conservation.
 These committees have also been given responsibilities to protect the forests from fires.
 A revision of Modern Forest Fire Control is being envisaged in which the JFM would be made an
integral part of the forest fire prevention strategy.
Research Issues
 There is an urgent need to initiate the research in fire detection, suppression and fire ecology
for better management of wildfires.
a. One reason for need of original research is that such research conducted in western
countries is not always suitable for Indian environment.
b. Further, there is a need to establish a National Institute of Forest Fire Management with
satellite centres in different parts of the country to bring the latest forest fire fighting
technologies through proper research, training of personnel, and technology transfer on a
long term basis.
WILDLIFE
 Wildlife of India is a great natural heritage. It is estimated that about 4-5 per cent of all known
plant and animal species on the earth are found in India.
 The main reason for this remarkable diversity of life forms is the great diversity of the
ecosystem. However their number is decreasing at an alarming rate in recent past because of
the following reasons:
a. Industrial and technological advancement brought about a rapid increase in the
exploitation of forest resources.
b. More and more lands were cleared for agriculture, human settlement, roads, mining,
reservoirs, etc.
c. Pressure on forests mounted due to lopping for fodder and fuelwood and removal of small
timber by the local people.
d. Grazing by domestic cattle caused an adverse effect on wildlife and its habitat.
e. Hunting was taken up as a sport by the elite and hundreds of wild animals were killed in a
single hunt. Now, commercial poaching is rampant.
f. Incidence of forest fire.
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA

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 In 1972, a comprehensive Wildlife Act was enacted, which provides the main legal framework
for conservation and protection of wildlife in India. The two main objectives of the Act are:
o to provide protection to the endangered species listed in the schedule of the Act
o to provide legal support to the conservation areas of the country classified as National parks,
sanctuaries and closed areas.
 For the purpose of effective conservation of flora and fauna, special steps have been initiated by
the Government of India in collaboration with UNESCO’s ‘Man and Biosphere Programme’.
Special schemes like Project Tiger (1973) and Project Elephant (1992) have been launched to
conserve these species and their habitat in a sustainable manner.
PROTECTED AREAS OF INDIA
Protected Areas of India (as on August 2020)

Total coverage % of country Area (km.sq.)
National Parks 37803.10
Wildlife Sanctuaries 108862.50
Conservation Reserves 42.87
Community Reserves 0.31
Protected Areas 146665.60
1. NATIONAL PARKS
a. An area, whether within a sanctuary or not, can be notified by the state government/central
government to be constituted as a National Park, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral,
geomorphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to for the purpose of
protecting & propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment.
b. No human activity is permitted inside the national park except for the ones permitted by
the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state under the conditions given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972.
c. There are 103 existing national parks in India covering an area of 40,500.13 km. Sq., which is
1.23% of the geographical area of the country.
2. WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
a. Any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters can be
notified by the State Government to constitute as a sanctuary if such area is of adequate
ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance, for the
purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.
b. Some restricted human activities are allowed inside the Sanctuary area details of which are
given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972.
c. There are 543 existing wildlife sanctuaries in India covering an area of 118,918 km2, which is
3.62 % of the geographical area of the country.
d. BIOSPHERE RESERVE

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a. Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO’s Man
and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based on local
community efforts and sound science.
b. The programme of Biosphere Reserve was initiated by UNESCO in 1971.
c. The purpose of the formation of the biosphere reserve is to conserve in situ all forms of life,
along with its support system, in its totality, so that it could serve as a referral system for
monitoring and evaluating changes in natural ecosystems.
PROJECT TIGER
 Project Tiger was launched by the Government of India in the year 1973 to save the endangered
species of tiger in the country.
 The main objective of the scheme is to ensure maintenance of of viable population of tigers in
India for scientific, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values, and to preserve areas of biological
importance as natural heritage for the benefit , education and employment of the people.
 Starting from nine (9) reserves in 1973-2016, the number is grown up to fifty (50). A total area of
71027.10km. sq. is covered by these project tiger areas.
PROJECT ELEPHANT
 Project Elephant was launched by the Government of India in the year 1992 as a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme with following objectives:
o To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors
o To address issues of man-animal conflict
o Welfare of captive elephants
 The Project is being mainly implemented in 16 States / UTs , viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
 The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change provides the financial and technical
support to major elephant range states in the country through Project Elephant.

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RAMSAR CONVENTION
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation
and sustainable utilization of wetlands, recognizing fundamental
ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific,
and recreational value.
It was established in 1971 by UNESCO. India is a part of Ramsar
Convention. There are 37 Ramsar sites in India (Sunderbans wetland is
the largest). U.P. has the most number of sites (7 sites).
Renuka wetland in H.P. is the smallest wetland of India. Chilika Lake
(Orissa) and Keoladeo Park (Rajasthan) were recognized as the first
Ramsar sites of India.
List of Ramsar Wetland Sites in India (as per February 2020)

Site Location
Ashtamudi Wetland Kerala
Beas Conservation Reserve Punjab
Bhitarkanika Mangroves Odisha
Bhoj Wetland Madhya Pradesh
Chandra Taal Himachal Pradesh
Chilika Lake Odisha
Deepor Beel Assam
East Kolkata Wetlands West Bengal
Harike Wetland Punjab
Hokera Wetland Jammu and Kashmir
Kanjli Wetland Punjab
Keoladeo Wtland Rajasthan
Keshopur-Miani Community Punjab
Reserve
Kolleru Lake Andhra Pradesh
Loktak Lake Manipur
Nalsarovar Bird Sanctaury Gujarat
Nandur Madhameshwar Maharashtra
Nangal Wildlife sanctuary Punjab
Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary U.P.
Parvati Aranga Bird Sanctuary U.P.
Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Tamil Nadu
Sanctuary
Pong Dam Lake Himachal Pradesh
Renuka Lake Himachal Pradesh
Ropar Wetland Punjab
Rudrasagar Lake Tripura
Saman Bird Sanctaury U.P.
Samaspur Bird Sanctauary U.P.
Sambhar Lake Rajasthan
Sandi Bird Sanctuary U.P.

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Sarsai Nawar Jheel U.P.

Sasthamkotta Kerala
Sunderban Wetland West Bengal
Surinsar-Mansar Lakes J&K
Tsomoriri Ladakh
Upper Ganga River U.P.
Vembanad-Kol Wetland Kerala
Wular Lake J&K
Asan Barrage Uttarakhand
Kanwar Taal Bihar, Begusarai
Sur Sarovar U.P.
Lonar Lake Maharshtra, Buldhana
district
BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE SITES
 “Biodiversity Heritage Sites” (BHS) are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile
ecosystems - terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and, marine having rich biodiversity
comprising of any one or more of the following components:
a. richness of wild as well as domesticated species or intra- specific categories
b. high endemism
c. presence of rare and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary
significance, wild ancestors of domestic/ cultivated species or their varieties,
d. past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and having
significant cultural, ethical or aesthetic values and are important for the maintenance of
cultural diversity, with or without a long history of human association with them.
 Under Section 37 of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA) the State Government in consultation
with local bodies may notify in the official gazette, areas of biodiversity importance as
Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS).
Importance of the area

 It is popularly believed to be a relic of the Chola Dynasty that ruled nearly 800 years ago, is
spectacle of awesome wonder and a freakish site.
 This BHS spread over 54 acres comprising a population of nearly 300 trees, is a picture of
dynamic pattern of plant diversity.
 The significant component of this popular structure is a group of old plants standing like ageless
sentinels, firmly rooted to the ground with their gigantic trunks, along with large picturesque
crowns spread very high and aloft like open wings.
 The area has unique Shola vegetation and grass land with number of floral species which are
unique and having lot of medicinal value.
 Hogrekan is moderately wooded land and its vegetation is of dry deciduous type and has a link
with Bababudanagiri and Kemmangundi, adjoining Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Yemmedode
Tiger Reserve and serving as “Wildlife Corridor” between Kudremukha and Bhadra Wildlife
Sanctuary.

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 The GKVK campus is considered one of the greenest areas in Bengaluru. Biological diversity of
this campus constitutes a critical repository of various forms of flora and fauna.
National World Heritage Sites in India
Name of WH Site State Year Area (sq.km.)

Great Himalayan National Himachal Pardesh 2014 905.4
Park
Western Ghats Maharashtra, Goa, 1988 7,953.15
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
and Kerala
Nanda Devi and Valley of Uttarakhand 1988 630.33, 87.50
Flowers National Parks
Sunderbans National Park West Bengal 1987 1,330.10
Kaziranga National Park Assam 1985 429.96
Keoladeo National Park Rajasthan 1985 28.73
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary Assam 1985 391.00
*****

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7. AGRICULTURE
 Agriculture is predominant economic activity in India, engaging nearly three-fifths of its working
population. Though the share of it in GDP has considerably declined to about one-fourth yet the
importance of agriculture as employment provider to workforce especially in the countryside is
very high.
 Agriculture involves not only crops raising but also animal ranching and fishing. The total land
area on which crops are grown in a region is called net sown area (NSA). The net sown area and
the area sown more than once together are called gross cultivated area.
 This implies that if we deduct net sown area from gross cropped area; what we find is those
areas where crops are cultivated for more than once in a particular agriculture year.
 States namely Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, have the high proportional share
of NSA than the national average.
INDIAN CROPPING SEASONS

 There are three distinct crop seasons in the northern and interior parts of country, namely
kharif, rabi, and zaid.
a. The kharif season largely coincides with Southwest Monsoon under which the cultivation of
tropical crops such as rice, cotton, jute, jowar, bajra and tur is possible.
b. The rabi season begins with the onset of winter in October- November and ends in March-
April. The low temperature conditions during this season facilitate the cultivation of
temperate and subtropical crops such as wheat, gram and mustard.
c. Zaid is a short duration summer cropping season beginning after harvesting of rabi crops,
the cultivation of watermelons, cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops during this season
is done on irrigated lands.

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 However, this type of distinction in the cropping season does not exist in southern parts of the
country. Here, the temperature is high enough to grow tropical crops provided the soil moisture
is available.
 Therefore, in this region same crops can be grown thrice in an agricultural year provided there is
sufficient soil moisture.
TYPES OF FARMING
1. Dry Farming: This type of farming is practiced in the areas where the amount of annual rainfall is
generally less than 80 cm.
a. Only one crop can be grown in a year. Millets like jawar, bajra, ragi, pulses etc. are
important crops grown under this type of farming.
b. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Southern Haryana, part of Gujarat and
Karnataka fall under this category of farming.
2. Wet Farming: This type of farming is practiced in the areas of alluvial soils where annual average
rainfall is more than 200cm.
a. Here, more than one crop is grown in a year because enough amount of moisture in the soil
is available. Rice and jute are the main crops of these types of farming.
b. West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and Malabar Coast
fall under this category of farming.
3. Subsistence Farming: The main objective is to provide subsistence to the largest number of
people of a given area.
a. Size of holdings is small, use of manual labour and simple farm implements are common
features of this type of farming.
4. Subsistence agriculture is practised in parts of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and the
hilly areas of the country.
5. Shifting Cultivation: In this type of cultivation, land is cleared by cutting and burning of forests
for raising crops.
a. This farming is practiced in some pockets of the hilly areas of Northeast and in some tribal
belts of Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
b. In northeast, such type of cultivation is known as “Jhuming”.
6. Terrace Cultivation:It is practiced in hilly areas.
a. The farmers in these regions carve out terraces on the hill slopes, conserve soil and water
to raise crops.
b. Due to pressure of population, terrace cultivation is being adopted in the North-Eastern
states of India where shifting agriculture was practiced earlier.
7. Plantation Agriculture: Well organized and managed cultivation of crops particularly a single
one on a large scale is called plantation agriculture.
a. It requires large investment on the latest technology and proper management.
b. Tea, coffee and rubber are examples of plantation agriculture. This agriculture is practiced in
Assam, West Bengal and the slopes of Nilgiri hills.
8. Commercial Farming: Under this farming, the farmers raise crops mainly for the market,
generally those crops are grown which are used as raw materials for industries.
a. Cultivation of sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra

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b. cotton in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab

c. Jute in West Bengal are some of the examples of this farming.
9. Contract Farming: In this system, companies engaged in processing/marketing of agriculture
products enter into contract with the farmers.
a. They provide the farmers necessary facilities and buy back the products with a rate specified
in advance.
b. Ballapur and ITC provide farmers with fast growing cloned varieties of tree that mature in
just four years and buy the out-put.
10. Eco-Farming or Organic Farming: This farming avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides,
growth regulator and livestock feed additives.
a. These types of farming rely on crop rotation, crop residues, animal manure, off-farm organic
wastes and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity.
b. A few farmers from Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Pondicherry and Punjab
are adopting this types of agriculture.
TYPES OF CROPPING SYSTEMS

1. Monocropping:
a. Example- Planting Wheat year after year in the same field.
b. Monocropping is when the field is used to grow only one crop season after season.
c. It is difficult to maintain cover on the soil; it encourages pests, diseases and weeds; and it
can reduce the soil fertility and damage the soil structure.
2. Crop Rotation:
a. Example Planting maize one year, and beans the next.
b. It means changing the type of crops grown in the field each season or each year (or
changing from crops to fallow).
c. It is a key principle of agriculture conservation because it improves the soil structure and
fertility, and because it helps control weeds, pests and diseases.

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3. Sequential Cropping:
a. Example- Planting maize in the long rains, then beans during the short rains.
b. Sequential Cropping involves growing two crops in the same field, one after the other in the
same year.
c. In some places, the rainy season is long enough to grow two crops: either two main crops, or
one main crop followed by a cover crop.
4. Intercropping:
a. Examples- alternating rows of maize and beans, or growing a cover crop in between the
cereal rows.
b. Intercropping means growing two or more crops in the same field at the same time.
5. Stir Cropping:
a. Example- Planting alternating strips of maize, soybean and finger millet.
b. Stir Cropping involves planting broad strips of several crops in the field. Each strip is 3–9 m
wide. On slopes, the strips can be laid out along the contour to prevent erosion. The next
year, the farmer can rotate crops by planting each strip with a different crop.
c. Advantages:
o It produces a variety of crops, the legume improves the soil fertility, and Planting rotation
helps reduce pest and weed problems.
o The residues from one strip can be used as soil cover for neighbouring strips.
o At the same time, strip cropping avoids some of the disadvantages of intercropping:
managing the single crop within the strip is easy, and competition between the crops is
reduced.
6. Relay Cropping:
a. Example- Planting maize, then sowing beans between the maize rows four weeks later.
b. Relay Cropping the process of growing one crop, then planting another crop in the same
field before harvesting the first.
c. This helps avoid competition between the main crop and the intercrop.
d. It also uses the field for a longer time, since the cover crop usually continues to grow after
the main crop is harvested.
CROPPING PATTERN IN INDIA

 Cropping Pattern mean the proportion of area under different crops at a point of time, changes
in this distribution overtime and factors determining these changes.
 Factors affecting cropping pattern in India are-
a. Natural factors like rainfall, soil and climate.
b. Land type and size of land holding.
c. Technology
d. Government policies-say higher MSP leads to over cultivation of the crop.

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S.No. Types of Crops Meaning Major Crops

1. Foodgrains Crops that are used for Rice, wheat, maize , millets,
human consumption pulses and oilseeds
2. Commercial crops Crops which are grown for Cotton, jute, sugarcane,
sale either in raw for or in tobacco and oilseeds
semi-processed form
3. Plantation crops Crops which are grown on Tea, coffee, coconut and
plantations covering large rubber
estates
4. Horticulture Sections of agriculture in Fruits and vegetables
which fruits and vegetables
are grown
MAJOR CROPS IN INDIA

FOODGRAINS
 The importance of foodgrains in Indian agricultural economy may be gauged from the fact these
crops occupy about two-third of total cropped area in the country.
 Foodgrains are dominant crops in all parts of the country whether they have subsistence or
commercial agricultural economy.
 On the basis of the structure of grain the food grains are classified as cereals and pulses.
A. CEREALS
o Cereals occupy about 54 percent of total cropped area in India.
o India produces a variety of cereals, which are classified as:
a. fine grains (rice, wheat) and
b. coarse grains (jowar, bajra, maize, ragi).
1. RICE: It is the most important food crop of India.
a. It is predominantly a Kharif crop. It covers about one third of total cultivated area of the
country and is staple food of more than half of the Indian population.
b. Temperature: Rice requires hot and humid conditions. The temperature should be fairly
high i.e. 240C mean monthly temperature .
c. Rainfall: Rainfall ranging between 150 and 300 cm is suitable for its growth. In areas of
Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh where rainfall is less than 100 cm; rice is
cultivated with the help of irrigation.
d. Soil: Deep clayey and loamy soil provides the ideal conditions.
e. Labour: Requires easily available labour because, most of the activities associated with it
are labor oriented and are not very well suited for mechanization.
f. Distribution: Rice is grown in almost all the states of India. But, it is primarily grown in plain
areas like Gangetic plain, it is also grown below sea level at Kuttanad (Kerala), hill terraces
of north eastern part of India and valleys of Kashmir.

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2. WHEAT: Wheat is the second most important food crop of India next to rice. It is a Rabi crop. It
is sown in the beginning of winter and harvested in the beginning of summer.
a. Temperature: It is primarily a crop of mid-latitude grassland. The ideal temperature is
between 100C to 150C at the time of sowing and 210C to 260C at the time of harvesting.
b. Rainfall: Wheat thrives well in areas receiving annual rainfall of about 75cm. Light drizzles
at the time of ripening help in increasing the yield. Frost at the time of flowering and
hailstorm at the time of ripening can cause heavy damage.
c. Soil: well drained fertile loamy and clayey loamy soil is best suited for wheat cultivation.
d. Distribution: The largest wheat producing states are U.P, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
3. MILLETS: Millets are short are coarse grain crops and ar both food and fodder. These are sown
in May-August and harvested in October-November.
a. Today millets are mostly consumed by poor people as their staple food. Some of these are
Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Korra, Kodon, Kutki, Hraka, Bauti and Rajgira.
b. In India, Jowar, Bajra and Ragi are grown on large areas but unfortunately area under these
crops has drastically reduced over the years.
c. Temperature: These crops are grown where the temperature is high which ranges between
270C to 320C.
d. Rainfall: As mentioned earlier that millets are ‘dry land crop’, therefore, rainfall ranging
from 50 to 100 cm is ideal for their cultivation.
e. Soil: Millets are less sensitive to soil deficiencies. They can be grown in inferior alluvial or
loamy soil.
f. Distribution: Jowar and Bajra are grown both in north and south India whereas ragi is
generally concentrated in the southern India. In total, coarse cereals can be found in
Rajasthan, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
B. PULSES
o India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world. These are the major
source of protein in a vegetarian diet.
o Pulses need less moisture and survive even in dry conditions. Being leguminous crops, all these
crops except arhar(pigeon pea) helps in restoring soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air.
o Therefore, these are mostly grown in rotation with other crops. Most of these are green manure
crops too. Major pulse producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra,
Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
o Though gram and tur are the more important pulses, several other pulses such as urd (black
gram), mung (green gram), masur (lentil), kulthi (horse gram), matar(peas), khersi, cow
pea(black-eyed gram) and moth are also grown. Pulses are generally fodder crops too.
1. GRAM: It is the most important of all the pulses. It accounts for about 37% of the production
and about 30% of the total area of pulses in India.
a. It is a Rabi crop which is sown between September and November and is harvested between
February and April.

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b. It is either cultivated as a single crop or mixed with wheat, barley, linseed or mustard.
c. Temperature: It is grown in a wide range of climatic condition. Mild cool and comparatively
dry climate with 200C -250C temperature.
d. Rainfall: 40-45 cm rainfall is favorable for gram cultivation.
e. Soil: It grows well on loamy soils.
f. Distribution: 90% of the total production comes from 5 states. These states are Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana
GREEN MANURE CROPS

 Crops grown for the purpose of restoring or increasing the organic matter content in the soil
are called Green manure crops.
 Use of Green manure crops in cropping system is called ’Green Manuring’ where the crop is
grown in situ or brought from outside and incorporated when it is purposely grown. They are
low cost and effective technology in minimising cost of fertilizers and safeguarding productivity.
 Green Leaf Manuring consists of gathering green biomass from nearby location and adding to
the soil.
Objectives of Green manuring:
o to add Nitrogen to the companion or succeeding crop and
o add or sustain organic matter in the soil.
 Examples of leguminous Green Manures are as follows: Cowpea, Cluster bean (Guar), Green
gram (Mung bean), Sesbania, Dhaincha, Sunhemp, Wild Indigo, Pillipesara, Berseem, Madras
Indigo etc.
 Cluster Bean (guar gum):
o In 2011, India exported guar worth $915 million to the United States, with most of product
intended for oil and gas industry use. It was India’s largest agricultural export to the United
States.
o India accounts for 80% of the total guar produced in the world. 70% of India’s production comes
from Rajasthan. The other producers are Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh..
Uses of Guar:
a. The leaves and beans of the guar plant have traditionally been used as an animal feed and
as a vegetable for human consumption.
b. Farmers take advantage of the nitrogen fixing abilities of the guar plant by using it as a
green manure crop.
c. Guar gum is used in baking as a dough thickener. It is used to thicken dairy products such as
milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream and sherbet.
d. In processed foods, guar gum is used as a thickener in salad dressing, sauces, ketchup,
soupand many other products.
e. Guar gum has medicinal uses which include: water-soluble fiber, bulk- forming laxative and
creating a feeling of satiety.
f. Industrially, it is used in mining, petroleum drilling and textile manufacturing.

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COMMERCIAL/CASH CROPS
 Cash crops are those crops which are grown for sale either in raw form or semi processed form.
Major of them are as follows:
1. SUGARCANE: Sugarcane is a Kharif crop. It is the main source of sugar, gur and khandsari. It also
provides raw material for the manufacturing of alcohol.
a. Bagasse, the crushed cane residue, has also multiple uses.
o It is used for manufacturing of paper.
o It is also an efficient substitute for petroleum products and a host of other chemical
products.
o A part of it is also used as fodder.
b. Temperature: It requires hot and humid climate with an average temperature of 210C to
270C.
c. Rainfall: 75-150 cm rainfall is favorable for sugarcane cultivation. Irrigation is required in
those areas where rainfall is less than the prescribed limit.
d. Soil: It can tolerate any kind of soil that can retain moisture. But deep rich loamy soil is ideal
for its growth. The soil should be rich in nitrogen, calcium and phosphorous but neither it
should be too acidic nor alkaline.
e. Sugarcane cultivation requires heavy manures and fertilizers because it exhausts the fertility
of soils quickly and extensively.
f. Labour: It is a labour oriented cultivation and required cheap labour. Ample human hands
are required at every stage, i.e. sowing, hoeing, weeding, irrigation, cutting and carrying
sugarcanes to the factories.
g. Distribution: India has the largest area under sugarcane cultivation in the world and the
second largest producer next to Brazil. As far as distribution of sugarcane cultivation in India
is concerned, there are three distinct geographical regions:
o The Sutlej-Ganga plain from Punjab to Bihar containing 51% of the total area and 60% of
the country’s total production. Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugar in India.
o The black soil belt from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu along the eastern slopes of the
Western Ghats.
o Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Krishna river valley.
FIBRE CROPS
1. COTTON: Cotton is the most important fibre crop as it not only provides raw material for cotton
textile industry but also its seed is used in Vanaspati oil industry.
a. The cotton seed is also used as part of fodder for milch cattle for better milk production.
Cotton is basically a kharif crop.
b. Distribution: The main states for cotton production are Andhra Pradesh, Telegana,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana.
c. Labour: As picking of cotton has not been made mechanized till now, therefore a lot of
cheap and efficient labour is required at the time of picking.
d. Soil: Cotton cultivation is very closely related to Black soils of Deccan and Malwa plateau.
However, it also grows well in alluvial soils of the Sutlej plain and red and laterite soils of the
peninsular region.

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e. Rainfall: It grows mostly in the areas having at least 210 frost free days in a year. It requires
modest amount of rainfall of 50 to 100 cm. However, cotton is successfully grown with the
help of irrigation in the areas where rainfall is less than 50 cm. High amount of rainfall in the
beginning and sunny and dry weather at the time of ripening are very useful for a good crop.
f. Temperature: Cotton is the crop of tropical and sub-tropical areas and requires uniformly
high temperature varying between 210C and 300C.
2. JUTE: It is an important natural fibre crop in India next to cotton. It is a kharif crop.
a. It requires hot and humid climate with 120-150 cm rainfall for its growth. Light sandy or
clayey soils is best for its cultivation. It is labour intensive.
b. It has now emerged as a versatile raw material for diverse applications, such as, textile
industries, paper industries, building and automotive industries, use as soil saver, use as
decorative and furnishing materials, etc.
c. Raw jute being bio-degradable and annually renewable source, it is considered as an
environment-friendly crop and it helps in the maintenance of the environment and
ecological balance.
d. Further attraction of Jute lies in its easy availability, inexhaustible quantity at a
comparatively cheaper rate. Moreover, it can easily be blended with other natural and man-
made fibres.
e. Jute cultivation is mainly concentrated in the eastern and north eastern India especially in
Gangetic Plain. Major jute and mesta producing states are West Bengal, Bihar and Assam.
OILSEEDS
 It is one of the important groups of commercial crops in India. Oil extracted from oilseeds not
only forms an important item of our diet but also serves as raw material for the manufacturing
of hydrogenated oils, paints, varnishes, soaps, lubricants etc.
 Oil-cake (the residue after the oil is extracted from the oilseeds) form an important cattle feed
and manure.
 Drylands of Malwa plateau, Marathwada, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana and Rayalseema region
of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka plateau are oilseeds growing regions of India. These crops
together occupy about 14 percent of total cropped area in the country.
 Groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, sesamum, linseed, castor seed, soyabean and sunflower are
the main oilseed crops grown in India.
1. GROUNDNUT: It is the most important oilseed of India. Groundnut is grown both as kharif and
Rabi crop but 90-95% of the total area is devoted to kharif crop.
a. Temperature: It thrives best in the tropical climate and requires 200C to 300C temperature.
b. Rainfall: 50-75 cm favorable for groundnut cultivation. It is highly susceptible to frost,
rainfall is prolonged drought, continuous rain and stagnant water. Therefore, dry winter is
needed at the time of ripening.
c. Soil: Well drained light sandy loams, red, yellow and black soils are well suited for its
cultivation.

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d. Distribution: It India is the largest producer of groundnut in the world. Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat are the main producer of groundnut in India and account
for about 60% of the total production.
th
2. SOYABEAN: Soybean is known as the ”Golden Bean” of the 20 Century. It grows in varied agro-
climatic conditions but it is best crop in Kharif season.
a. It has emerged as one of the important commercial crop in many countries. Due to its
worldwide popularity, the international trade of Soybean is spread globally.
b. Several countries such as Japan, China, Indonesia, Philippines, and European countries are
importing Soybean to supplement their domestic requirement for human consumption and
cattle feed.
c. Soybean has great potential as an exceptionally nutritive and very rich protein-food.
d. It can supply the much needed protein to human diets, because it contains above 40 per
cent protein of superior quality and all the essential amino acids particularly glycine,
tryptophan and lysine, similar to cow’s milk and animal proteins.
e. Major soyabean producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Maharshtra and Rajasthan
3. SUNFLOWER: Due to source of high quality edible oil, sunflower oil is used as cooking oil in
different recipes. Its importance increases as it is considered as a heart friendly oil.
a. This crop has short duration of maturity, containing of excellent quality of oil, wide
adaptability into different kinds of cropping pattern, high-energy hull and drought tolerance.
b. It is a short duration crop and completes its life cycle in about three months. Since it is a
photo-insensitive crop, it can be grown throughout the year. Sunflower is cultivated as both
kharif and rabi seasons.
c. In addition, sunflower is also cultivated as summer crop in Punjab and West Bengal. Oil
cake is rich in high quality protein and used as cattle and poultry feed.
d. This crop is considered valuable from economic as well as ornamental point of view.
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are the major sunflower producing states.
4. SEASAMUM (TIL): Sesamum is a rainfed crop and requires 45-50 cm rainfall. It thrives well in
areas having 21o-23oC temperature.
a. Frost, prolonged drought and heavy rains for a longer duration are harmful to this crop.
b. Well-drained light loamy soils are best suited to sesamum. It is cultivated in plains as well as
on elevations upto 1,300 metres.
c. It is grown as a kharif crop in the north and as a rabi crop in the south.
5. RAPESEED & MUSTARD: They thrive only in cool climate of the Satluj-Ganga plain
a. Very small quantity is grown in the peninsular India.
b. They are mainly grown as rabi crop in pure or mixed form with wheat, gram and barley.
6. LINSEED: It prefers cool, moist climate with about 20oC temperature and 75 cm rainfall.
a. Clay loams, deep black soils and alluvial soils are best suited for its cultivation. It can be
cultivated upto a height of 800 metres above sea level.

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b. It is a rabi-crop which is sown in October-November and harvested in March- April.
PLANTATION CROPS
1. TEA: India is famous for its tea gardens. Tea plantation in India was started by the Britishers in
1923 when wild tea plants were discovered by them in the hilly and forest areas of Assam.
a. Tea is made from tender sprouts of tea plants by drying them. India is one of the leading tea
producing country in the world. China and Sri Lanka are other leading producers of tea.
b. Temperature: It requires hot and wet climate. The ideal temperature for the growth of tea
bushes and leaf varies between 200C to 300C..
c. Rainfall: As mentioned above tea requires a good amount of rainfall ranging between 150-
300 cm and the annual rainfall should be well distributed.
d. Soil: Tea bush grows well in well drained, deep, friable loamy soil. However, virgin forest
soil rich in humus and iron content are considered to be the best soils for the tea plantation.
Tea is a shade loving plant.
e. Labour: Cheap and efficient labour is required for tea production.
f. Distribution: Assam is the leading producer that accounts for more than 50% of tea
production of India. West Bengal is the second largest producer (mostly grown in Darjeeling,
Siliguri, Jalpaiguri districts). Tamil Nadu is the third largest producer (restricted to Nilgiri
hills).
2. COFFEE: It is the indigenous crop of Ethiopia (Abysinia Plateau). But it was British planters who
took keen interest and large coffee estates were established in the hills of Western Ghats.
a. Temperature: It requires hot and humid climate with temperature varying between 150C
and 280C. it is generally grown under shady trees. Dry weather is necessary at the time of
ripening of berried.
b. Rainfall: Rainfall between 150 and 250 cm is favorable for coffee cultivation.
c. Soil: Well drained, rich friable loamy soil containing good deal of humus and minerals like
iron and calcium are ideal for coffee to increase productivity.
d. Labour: Like tea, coffee cultivation also requires plenty of cheap and skilled labour for
various purposes like sowing, transplanting, pruning, plucking, drying, grading and packaging
of coffee.
e. Distribution: Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the main states of coffee production in
India.
HORTICULTURE CROPS
 Horticulture can be defined as the science of growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers. India is a
producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits.
a. Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
b. Oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya)
c. Bananas of Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
d. Lichi and guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
e. Pineapples of Meghalaya
f. Grapes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra

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g. Apples, pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are in
great demand the world over.
 Major flower growing states are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in South, West
Bengal in East, Maharashtra in West and Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana in North. Major exporting
flower like orchid covers the entire region of North-Eastern region especially in the state of
Arunanchal Pradesh which is also known as Orchid State of India.
 India produces about 13% of the world’s vegetables. It is an important producer of pea,
cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato.
CROP COMBINATIONS
 The study of crop combinations constitutes an important aspect of agricultural geography. In
fact, it provides a good basis for agricultural regionalization and helps in the formulation of
strategy for agricultural development.
 The distribution maps of and their concentration are interesting and helps in knowing the
density and concentration of individual crops, but it is even more important to view the
integrated assemblage of the various crops in a region.
 On the basis of some homogeneity and commonness, major crop regions in India may be
divides as follows:
1. THE RICE REGION

a. Rice is considered as the first-ranking crop in the vast region stretching from lower Gangetic
Plain to Brahmaputra Valley in the east and the circum-coastal alluvial tracts of the
peninsula region. Rice cultivation is done around Bay of Bengal,
b. Though rice displays overall dominance, considering the secondary importance of other
crops, this region may be subdivided into following zones:
o Rice-Jute-Tea: This association of crops occurs in farthest east, near Assam Valley northern
West Bengal and lower Gangetic plains.
o Rice-Pulses-Millets-: This association occurs in the western section of the former zone,
covering central Bihar, eastern Madhya Pradesh and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
o Rice-Millets: This zone comprises the entire Andhra Pradesh, south Orissa and some parts of
Tamil Nadu.
o Rice-Coffee-Spices: This zone is found in the southern extremity of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
2. THE JOWAR-BAJRA REGION

a. This crop combination occurs relatively in less rainfall region of 50-100 cm in red soil region.
As the region is drought prone, Jowar-Bajra is more popular.
o Jowar-Cotton in Maharashtra.
o Jowar-Cotton-Oilseeds- Millets in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
o Jowar-Wheat in entire Rajasthan, Haryana and some parts of Uttar Pradesh.
o Bajra-Jowar-Pulses in Rajasthan desert and semi-desert areas.
3. THE WHEAT REGION

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a. This region covers the entire north-western India including the state of Punjab, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The major sub-regions are:
o Wheat-Maize-Sugar Cane: This region comprises a greater part of wheat regions, covering
West Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.
o Wheat-Jowar-Bajra in Indus Plain covering Punjab and Haryana.
o Wheat-Jowar-Bajra in Vindhyan scarp land and MalwaBundel- khand plateau.
4. THE COTTON REGION

a. In the black cotton soil as regur region in the North West India, cotton cultivation
predominates. The cotton cultivation covers the Deccan trap region and Gujarat Plain.
b. The Narmada, Tapti, Purna, Sabarmati River Valleys are basically heartlands of cotton
cultivation.
c. As a cash-crop, cotton cultivation is always associated with one food grain cultivation,
preferably Jowar, Bajra or oil seeds. The different sub-regions are:
o Cotton-Jowar-Bajra grows in close association with one another in the Maharashtra and
Western Madhya Pradesh.
o Cotton-Oilseeds-Combination developed in Gujarat.
o Cotton-Pulses-Rice-Region developed in Narmada banks and eastern Gujarat.
5. THE MILLET-MAIZE REGION

a. The cultivation of millet, maize and ragi are found in close association with other major
cereals like bajra, wheat, rice etc.
b. Maize cultivation dominates in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
c. In Himachal Pradesh, Maize-Barley-wheat combination has developed, particularly in the
foothills of the Himalayas.
d. Some parts of the Aravalli have the peculiar crop combination of Maize-Cotton-Oilseeds-
Millets-Wheat. Ragi cultivation predominates in South of Karnataka.
6. THE FRUIT & SPICE REGION

a. This is the smallest region among the different crop regions. High-altitude hilly areas come
under the territory of this region.
b. The ‘Duns’ and valleys in Himalayas, foothills of Nilgiri, Annamalai, Palni and Cardamom
hills in Tamil Nadu and Kerala may be classified as fruit and spice region.
c. Here, the dominant agricultural activity is fruit orchards and plantations.
CATTLE REARING
 Cattle rearing are an important economic activity in India. Milk and milk products (Butter, Ghee
etc.) meat, eggs, leather, and silk are raw materials for industries.
 Animals provide a large proportion of energy required in the farm sector. The bullocks,
buffaloes, horses, ponies, camel etc. are used as draught animals.
 India is leading producer of milk in the world. It is due to initiative taken by government through
‘Operation Flood’.

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 The largest number of livestock is found in Uttar Pradesh followed by the states of Rajasthan,
Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
 Sheep are found mostly in the cold and dry regions of the country. They develop hoof diseases
in hot and humid climate. Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are major states where sheep are in large numbers.
FISHING
 Fishing has been an important occupation of the people in the coastal areas. Fisheries are of two
types:
o the inland and
o the open sea.
 The inland fishing is done in rivers, tanks, ponds and canals. The major rivers like Brahmaputra,
Ganga, Satluj, Narmada, Mahanadi and Godavari; and numerous tanks and ponds are tapped for
fishing.
 The rapid increase in the production of fish in the country is called Blue Revolution. This is
synonymous with shrimp farming or Aquaplosion.
 Open sea fishing or marine fishing, done in sea water, is caught in shallow water in our country.
More than two-thirds of marine fish is landed on western coast of India.
*****
8. GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF INDIA

 India is a country with oldest geological bodies and features. It has a very unique geological and
structural conditions of almost all ages of the geological time scale. All kinds of rock masses,
mineral deposits, mineral fuels including coal and oil resources occur in India.
 Based on this complex and varied geological history, the Geological Survey of India has classified
rock systems of the country into 4 major divisions:
The Indian Corresponding period of

Classification earth’s geological time scale
Archean Early Precambrian Eon

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Purana Later Precambrian Eon

Dravidian 600-400 myr
Aryan 400 myr to present
THE ARCHAEAN ROCK SYSTEM (Early Pre-Cambrian)

 The Archaean group of rocks consists of two systems-
o The Archaean granites and gneisses
o The Dharwar System
1. The Archaean Gneisses and Schists

i. The Archean System contains the first formed rocks of the earth. The rocks are primarily
gneisses and granites, having no marks of fossils.
ii. The system is generally known as the basement complex or fundamental gneisses. The
Archaean rocks cover two-thirds of the peninsular India.
iii. The mineral composition of Gneiss varies from granite to gabro whereas that of Schist
includes mica, talc, hornblende etc.
2. The Dharwar System

i. The weathering of the Archaean rocks yielded the earliest sediments and formed the oldest
sedimentary strata, the Dharwar system. These are found today in metamorphic forms and
do not contain fossils.

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ii. These rocks occur in Dharwar-Bellary-Mysore belt of Karnataka, Ranchi and Hazaribagh in
Jharkhand, Meghalaya plateau, Balaghat and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, Bastar and
Dantewara in Chattisgarh, Sundergarh and Keonjhar in Odisha, Aravalis, Himalayan region,
etc
iii. The Dharwar rocks are economically the most important rocks because they possess
valuable minerals like high-grade iron ore, manganese, copper, lead, gold, quartzite, slates,
mica, etc.
THE PURANA ROCK SYSTEM (Late Pre-Cambrian)

 The Archaean gneiss and the Dharwar rocks underwent further erosion leading to the formation
of the Purana Rock system. The Purana rock system is further subdivided into
o the Cuddapah and
o the Vindhyan
1. The Cuddapah
i. These rocks are generally without fossils. These formations, named after the Cuddapah
district in Andhra Pradesh are sedimentary metamorphic formations.
ii. These are found in Andhra Pradesh (Cuddapah, Kurnool), southern Chhattisgarh (Dantewara,
Bastar, etc), Jharkhand and Odisha and along the main axis of Aravallis.
iii. The principle rocks of the Cuddapah System are inferior quality of iron-ore, manganese ore,
asbestos, copper, nickel, cobalt (Delhi System), marble, jasper, deposits of building
purpose quartzite and cement grade limestone.
iv. The metallic content in ores of Cuddapah rocks is low and at places uneconomical for
extraction.
2. The Vindhyan System

i. This system derives its name from the Vindhyan mountains. Consists of enormous
sedimentary deposits. In some tracts, Vindhyan rocks are buried under the Deccan lava.
ii. It stretches from Sasaram in Bihar to Chittorgarh in Rajasthan with the exception of the
central tract of Bundelkhand gneiss which makes a gap in this belt.
iii. Teses rocks are also found in Chattisgarh, Bhima valley of Karnataka andKurnool district of
Andhra Pradesh. The well-known diamond mines of Panna and Golconda lie in the
Vindhayan region.
iv. This rock system is well known for red sandstone, sandstone, durable stones, ornamental
stones, raw materials for lime, glass, cement and chemical industries but they are devoid of
metalliferous minerals.
THE DRAVIDIAN ROCK SYSTEM (Cambrian to middle carboniferous)
 The formations of this period are almost absent in the Peninsular India except near Umaria in
Rewa.
 These formations exist in the Pir-Panjal, Handwara, Lidder-Valley, Anantnag of Kashmir Uammu
and Kashmir), Spiti, Kangra, Shimla region (Himachal Pradesh), and Garhwal and Kumaun
(Uttarakhand).

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 It was during this period that the Pangaea was broken and the Tethys Sea came into existence.
The Cambrian rocks include shales, sandstones, clays, quartzites slates, salts, marble, etc.
THE ARYAN ROCK SYSTEM (Upper Carboniferous to recent)

1. The Gondwana System
i. The peninsula during the Upper Carboniferous period experienced crustal movements,
which led to the formation of basin-shaped depressions.
ii. These depressions had countless terrestrial plants and animals, which were buried to from
coal deposits in India known as the Gondwana Rocks.
iii. These rocks have also marks of climatic changes from arctic cold to tropical and desert
conditions.
iv. These Rocks are found mainly in the Damodar and Son valley, the Mahanadi valley in
Chattisgarh and Odisha, the Godavari valley.
v. Gondwana rocks contain nearly 98 percent of India’s coal reserves. Gondwana coal is much
younger than the Carboniferous coal and hence its carbon content is low. They also have
deposits of Iron ore, copper, uranium and antimony.
2. The Deccan Trap

i. Towards the end of the Mesozoic era, intensive volcanic activity took place, which flooded
with lava vast areas of Maharashtra and other parts of the Deccan known as the Deccan
traps.
ii. Present DeccanTrap covers about 5 lakh sq km mainly in parts of Kuchchh, Saurashtra,
Maharashtra the Malwa plateau and northern Karnataka.
iii. They are source of quartz, agate and road building material. The weathering of these rocks
for a long time has given birth to black cotton soil known as ‘regur’.
3. Tertiary System
i. Eocene to Pliocene about 60 to 7 million years ago. The tertiary is the most significant period
in India’s geological history because the Himalayas were born.
ii. India’s present form came into being in this period.
4. The Pleistocene and recent formations (The quaternary period)

i. Quaternary is the name proposed for very recent deposits, which contains fossils of species
with living representatives
ii. These include Satluj-Ganga- Brahmaputra plains and Karewa formations of the Kashmir
valley.

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*****
9. MINERALS & ENERGY RESOURCES
MINERAL RESOURCES
 India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resources due to its varied geological structure.
Bulk of the valuable minerals are products of pre-palaezoic age and are mainly associated with
metamorphic and igneous rocks of the peninsular India.
 On the basis of chemical and physical properties, minerals may be grouped under two main
categories of metallics and non-metallics. Metallic minerals are the sources of metals.
a. Iron ore, copper, gold produce metal and are included in this category. Metallic minerals are
further divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic minerals.

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b. All those minerals which have iron content are ferrous such as iron ore itself and those
which do not have iron content are non-ferrous such as copper, bauxite, etc.
 Non-metallic minerals are either organic in origin such as fossil fuels also known as mineral
fuels.
a. They are derived from the buried animal and plant life such as coal and petroleum.
b. Other type of non-metallic minerals are inorganic in origin such as mica, limestone and
graphite, etc.
DISTRIBUTION OF MINERALS IN INDIA

 Minerals are generally concentrated in three broad belts in India. There may be some sporadic
occurrences here and there in isolated pockets. These belts are :
The North-Eastern Plateau Region

i. This belt covers Chhotanagpur (Jharkhand), Odisha Plateau, West Bengal and parts of
Chhattisgarh
ii. It has variety of minerals viz. iron ore, coal, manganese, bauxite, mica.
iii. The Chhotanagpur plateau is known as the mineral heart land of India, also Ruhr of India.
The South-Western Plateau Region

i. This belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala.
ii. This belt is rich in ferrous metals and bauxite. It also contains high grade iron ore,
manganese and limestone. This belt packs in coal deposits except Neyveli lignite.
iii. This belt does not have as diversified mineral deposits as the north-eastern belt. Kerala has
deposits of monazite and thorium, bauxite clay. Goa has iron ore deposits.
The North-Western Region
i. This belt extends along Aravali in Rajasthan and part of Gujarat and minerals are associated
with Dharwar system of rocks.
ii. Copper, zinc have been major minerals. Rajasthan is rich in building stones i.e. sandstone,
granite, marble. Gypsum and Fuller’s earth deposits are also extensive.
iii. Dolomite and limestone provide raw materials for cement industry. Gujarat is known for its
petroleum deposits.

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 The Himalayan belt is another mineral belt where copper, lead, zinc, cobalt and tungsten are
known to occur. They occur on both the eastern and western parts.
 Assam valley has mineral oil deposits. Besides oil resources are also found in off-shore-areas
near Mumbai Coast (Mumbai High).
FERROUS MINERALS
1. IRON-ORE
a. India is endowed with fairly abundant resources of superior quality iron ore.
b. The two main types of ore found in our country are haematite and magnetite.
o Odisha- Mayurbhanj (Guruma-hisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar), Keonjhar (Kiruburu),
Sundergarh (Bonai).
o Jharkhand– Singhbhum (Noamundi and Gua).
o Chattisgarh– Bastar- Bailadila; Durg- Dalli-Rajhara.
o Karnataka: Bellary, Chikmanglur (Bababudan Hills, Kudremukh), Shimonga.
o The districts of Chandrapur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Karimnagar and
Warangal district of Telangana, Kurnool, Cuddapah and Anantapur districts of Andhra
Pradesh, Salem and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu and Goa are other iron mining regions.
2. MANGANESE
a. Manganese is an important raw material for smelting of iron ore and also used for
manufacturing ferro alloys.
b. Manganese deposits are found in almost all geological formations, however, it is mainly
associated with Dharwar system. Producers are:
o Odisha: Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Koraput, Bolangir, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj.
o Maharashtra: Nagpur (Kodergaon, Gumgaon, Ramdongiri), Bhandara, Ratnagiri.
o Karnakata: Shimoga, Chitradurga, Bellary, North canara.
o M.P.: Balaghat, Chindwara, Jhabua, Jabalpur.
o Telangana, Goa, and Jharkhand are other minor producers of manganese.
NON-FERROUS MINERALS
1. BAUXITE
a. Bauxite is the ore which is used in manufacturing of aluminium.
b. Bauxite is found mainly in tertiary deposits and is associated with laterite rocks occurring
extensively either on the plateau or hill ranges of peninsular India and also in the coastal
tracts of the country. Important producers are:
o Odisha (33%): Kalahandi, Sundergarh, Koraput and Sambalpur.
o M.P.: Amarkantak Plateau- Sargujar, Raigarh, Bilaspur; Maikala Range – Balaghat; Katni
Range – Jabalpur.
o Jharkhand: Palamu, Lohardaga, Ranchi.
o Gujarat: Jamnagar, Khaira, Kutch.
o Maharashtra: Kolhapur, Kolaba, Satara, Ratnagiri,
o Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa are minor producers of Bauxite.

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2. COPPER
a. Copper is an indispensable metal in the electrical industry for making wires, electric motors,
transformers and generators.
b. It is alloyable, malleable and ductile. It is also mixed with gold to provide strength to
jewellery.
o Jharkhand- Singhbhum ( 50% of total country’s reserves at Mosabani, Rakha, Dhobani,
Rajdah, Surdah, Pathargara, Tamapahar, Turamdih).
o Rajasthan- Khetri- Singhana Area (Kolihan, Mandhan, Akwali, Berkhera), Dariba.
o M.P. – Balaghat (Malanjkhand)
o Other producers of copper are Agnigundala in Guntur District (Andhra Pradesh), Chitradurg
and Hasan districts (Karnataka) and South Arcot district (Tamil Nadu).
3. GOLD & SILVER

a. India is poor in gold reserves. There are three main areas-
o Kolar district of Karnataka
o Hutti mines in Raichur district of Karnataka
o Ramgiri gold mines in Anantpur district in Andhra Pradesh.
b. Negligible amount of gold is also obtained from the sands of river Subarnarekha.
c. India is poor in Silver reserves.
d. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu have deposits of silver.
4. LEAD & ZINC
a. These two minerals generally occurs together.
o Rajasthan – Zawar and Banjawi deposits.

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o Andhra Pradesh –Zangamarajupalle (in Chuddapah district)
5. TIN & NICKEL

a. India is poor in Tin reserves. The chief deposits are found in Bihar and Jharkhand.
b. India is poor in Nickel reserves. Mainly found in Mayurbhanj and Cuttack district of Odisha.
NON-METALLIC MINERALS
1. MICA
a. Mica is mainly used in the electrical and electronic industries.
b. It can be split into very thin sheets which are tough and flexible. India is largest producer
and exporter of mica.
o Jharkhand- A belt existing over 150 km in length and 20-22 km in width in lower Hazaribagh
plateau. Kodarma mines are one of the most important mica producing region of India.
o Bihar- Gaya district
o Andhra Pradesh- Gudur , Sangam & Nellore are the main producing regions of Green- mica,
also called Electrical- mica (lightest of all types).
o Rajasthan- mica belt extends for about 320 kms from Jaipur to Bhilwara and around
Udaipur.
2. LIMESTONE
a. Limestone rocks are composed of either calcium carbonate, the double carbonate of
calcium and magnesium, or mixture of both.

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b. Limestone deposits are of sedimentary origin and exist in all the geological sequences from
Pre-Cambrian to Recent except in Gondwana.
c. An important raw material for cement, iron and steel industry.
d. Limestone is also used in paper, sugar, fertilizers, etc.
e. Almost all the states of India produce some quantity of limestone.
f. Over three-fourths of the total limestone of India is produced by Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.
3. DOLOMITE
a. Limestone with more than 10 per cent of magnesium is called dolomite. When the
percentage rises to 45, it is true dolomite.
b. Iron and Steel industry is the chief consumer of dolomite [90 per cent] followed by fertilizer,
ferro-alloys and glass.
c. Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Karnataka are the main
producing states and contribute more than 90 per cent of the total production.
ATOMIC MINERALS
1. URANIUM
a. Uranium deposits occur in Singhbhum and Hazaribagh districts of Jharkhand, Gaya district
of Bihar, and in the sedimentary rocks in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
b. But the largest source of uranium comprise the monazite sands.
o Monazite sands occur on east and west coasts and in some places in Bihar.
o But the largest concentration of monazite sand is on the Kerala coast.
o Over 15,200 tonnes of uranium is estimated to be contained in monazite.
c. Some uranium is found in the copper mines of Udaipur in Rajasthan.
2. THORIUM
a. It is derived from monazite. It is produced in Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and
Rajasthan.
b. In addition to uranium and thorium, beryllium and lithium are also the atomic minerals
found mainly in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
ENERGY RESOURCES
CONVENTIONAL ENERGY RESOURCES
1. COAL
a. Coal is one of the important minerals which is mainly used in the generation of thermal
power and smelting of iron ore.
b. About 80 percent of the coal deposits in India is of bituminous type and is of non-coking
grade.
c. Major Coal areas
o The Damodar Valley Coalfield- in Jharkahnd and West Bengal. Jharia, Chandrapura, Bokaro,
Giridih, Karanpura in Jharkhand and Raniganj in West Bengal are major coal fields.

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o The Son Vally Coalfield- mainly in Madhya Pradesh and partly in Uttar Pradesh. Singrauli,
Umaria, Tatapani are the major coalfields.
o The Mahanadi Valley Coalfield- Chattisgarh and Odisha. Korba and Talcher are important
coal fields.
o The Godavari valley Coalfield- Mainly in Telangana. Singreni coalfield is the most important.
o Tertiary Coalfields- Meghalaya (Dadenggiri, Cherrapunji, Maolong), Upper Assam (Makum,
Nazia, jeypore), Arunachal Pradesh (Namchik, Namruk, Dingrak), Jammu and Kashmir
(Kalakot).
TYPES OF COAL OR COAL ENERGY

 The amount of fixed carbon and hydrocarbons forms the basis of classification of coal into
various types given as under:
a. Anthracite is a hard and dense coal which is relatively free of iron compounds and moisture.
It is jet black, lustrous and has a fine texture. It burns with a blue flame and gives no smoke.
b. Bituminous coal is unusually black and highly lustrous. The moisture content is relatively
low. The fixed carbon content ranges from about 50 to over 80% and that of volatile matter
from 40 to 15 per cent.
c. Lignite is also known as brown coal. The higher grades vary from dark brown to almost
black. The brown coal or lignite occur in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry,
Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
2. PETROLEUM
a. Crude petroleum consists of hydrocarbons of liquid and gaseous states varying in chemical
composition, colour and specific gravity.

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b. It is an essential source of energy for all internal combustion engines in automobiles,

railways and aircraft.
c. Its numerous by-products are processed in petrochemical industries such as fertiliser,
synthetic rubber, synthetic fibre, medicines, vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap and cosmetics.
d. Crude petroleum occurs in sedimentary rocks of the tertiary period.
e. Distribution of Oilfields:
o Assam- Digboi, Naharkatia, Moran- Hugirijang, Surma valley oilfields are major oilfields.
o Gujarat- Ankaleshwar, Khambat, Kallol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba oilfields.
o Western offshore oilfields- Bombay High, Bassein, Aliabet oilfields.
o Eastern coast oilfields- In Krishna- Godavari river basin, Cauvery basin (Narimanam,
Kovilappal)
3. NATURAL GAS
a. It is obtained along with oil in all the oil fields
b. Exclusive reserves have been located along the Eastern coast as well as Rajasthan and off-
shore wells in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES

1. SOLAR ENERGY
a. Solar energy is available in very large amount, thus considered perpetual energy resource
and is considered major future source of energy.
b. Solar energy influences earth’s climate. Wind energy, biomass and hydropower are the
resultant of solar energy.
Applications of Solar energy

 Photovoltaic: Conversion of Solar Energy of Electricity
o Thus, Photovoltaic’s are the arrays of cells consisting of semi-conductors that effectively
converts solar radiation into electricity (Direct Current), used to power bulb or equipment or
to recharge a battery.
o An inverter converts DC to AC for, grid connected power generation.
 Solar Thermal
o Solar Thermal Power systems, also known as Concentrating Solar Power systems, use
concentrated solar radiation as a high temperature energy source to produce electricity
using thermal route.
 Other Applications of Solar Energy
o Solar cooker and water heater
o Solar furnace, Solar toys, Solar air-conditioning, Solar vehicle
o Day lighting (solar street lights and traffic lights) etc.
Advantages of Solar Energy

i. It is renewable energy resource.
ii. Solar power is pollution free.

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iii. Solar powered instruments are easy to install and use e.g. solar panels, solar water heaters,
solar lighting, solar pumps, solar fountains.
iv. Long life and low maintenance.
v. Solar Photovoltaics are used for the electricity generation in remote and isolated areas e.g.
forest, hills, deserts. PV is frequently used in watches, pocket calculators and toys.
2. WIND ENERGY
a. Wind energy is absolutely pollution free, inexhaustible source of energy. The kinetic energy
of wind, through turbines is converted into electrical energy.
b. The permanent wind systems such the trade winds, westerlies and seasonal wind like
monsoon have been used as source of energy. Besides these, local winds, land and sea
breezes can also be used to produce electricity.
c. The Indian wind energy sector has an installed capacity of 32,380.18 MW (as on March 31,
2017). In terms of wind power installed capacity, India is ranked 5th in the World.
d. Today India is a major player in the global wind energy market.
e. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka have the large share of
installed windenergy.
3. TIDAL & WAVE ENERGY

a. Ocean currents are the store-house of infinite energy. Large tidal waves are known to occur
along the west coast of India. Hence, India has great potential for the development of tidal
energy along the coasts.
b. Tidal power projects attempt to harness the energy of tides as they flow in and out. The
main criteria for a tidal power generation site are that the mean tidal range must be greater
than 5 metres.
c. The tidal power is harnessed by building a dam across the entrance to a bay or estuary
creating a reservoir.
d. As the tide rises, water is initially prevented from entering the bay. Then when tides are high
and water is sufficient to run the turbines, the dam is opened and water flows through it
into the reservoir (the bay), turning the blades of turbines and generating electricity.
e. Again when the reservoir (the bay) is filled, the dam is closed, stopping the flow and holding
the water in reservoir when the tide falls (ebb tide), the water level in the reservoir is higher
than that in the ocean.
f. The dam is then opened to run the turbines, electricity is produced as the water is let out of
the reservoir. The dams built to harness the tidal power adversely affect the vegetation and
wildlife.
4. GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
a. Geothermal energy is natural heat from the interior of the earth that can be used to
generate electricity as well as to heat up buildings.
b. The core of the earth is very hot and it is possible to make use of this geothermal energy.
c. These are areas where there are volcanoes, hot springs, and geysers, and methane under
the water in the oceans and seas.

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d. In some countries, such as in the USA water is pumped from underground hot water
deposits and used for heating of houses.
e. Geothermal energy in India
o In India, Northwestern Himalayas and the western coast are considered geothermal areas.
o The Geological Survey of India has already identified more than 350 hot spring sites, which
can be explored as areas to tap geothermal energy.
o The Puga valley in the Ladakh region has the most promising geothermal field.
5. BIO-ENERGY
a. Bio-energy refers to energy derived from biological products which includes agricultural
residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes.
b. It is a potential source of energy conversion. It can be converted into electrical energy, heat
energy or gas for cooking.
c. It will also process the waste and garbage and produce energy.
d. This will improve economic life of rural areas in developing countries, reduce environmental
pollution, enhance self-reliance and reduce pressure on fuel wood.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
 Energy is the key to development. In fact, the amount of energy production and consumption is
sometimes considered as an index of a country’s economic development.
 India is growing fast. Energy is central to:
o achieving India’s development ambitions
o support an expanding economy
o bring electricity to those who remain without it
o fuel the demand for greater mobility and
o develop the infrastructure to meet the needs of what is soon expected to be the world’s
most populous country.
*****
10. INDUSTRY

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 Industry implies the transformation of existent materials into something new, into goods that
are used as end-products themselves, or are utilized to manufacture more goods. Industries can
be classified into several groups:
 On the basis of strength of Labour:
i. Large-scale Industries
ii. Medium-scale Industries
iii. Small-scale Industries
 On the basis of Raw Material and Finished Goods:
i. Heavy Industries: Industries, which use heavy and bulky raw materials and produce
products of the same category, are called heavy industries. Eg. Iron and steel industry.
ii. Light Industries: The light industries use light raw materials and produce similar finished
products. Eg. Textile industry, electronics, fans, sewing machines.
 On the basis of Ownership: Since the beginning of the planned development of Indian economy
in 1951, industries are divided into the following three classes:
i. Private Sector Industries: Industries owned by individuals or firms such as Bajaj Auto or
TISCO situated at Jamshedpur.
ii. Public Sector Industries: Industries owned by the state and its agencies, like Bharat heavy
Electricals Ltd. or Bhilai Steel Plant or Durgapur Steel Plant and Integral Coach Factory at
Kapurthala are public sector industries.
iii. Joint Sector Industries: Industries owned jointly by the private firms and the state or its
agencies, such as Gujarat alkalies Ltd. or Oil India Ltd., fall in the group.
 On the basis of source of Raw Material:
i. Agro-based Industries: Those industries which obtain raw material from agriculture. Cotton
textile, jute textile, silk, sugar, vegetable oil and paper industry are representative industries
of this group.
ii. Mineral-based Industries: The industries that receive raw material primarily from minerals
such as iron and steel, aluminium and cement industries fall in this category.
iii. Pastoral-based Industries: These industries depend upon animals for their raw material.
Hide, skin, bone, horn, shoes, dairy, etc., are some of the pastoral-based industries.
iv. Forest-based Industries: The industries which use forest products as their raw materials.
Paper, card- board, lac, rayon, resin, basket, etc. are examples of forest based industries:
 Miscellaneous Industries:
i. Village industries: located in villages and primarily cater to the needs of the rural people.
They usually employ local machinery such as oil extractor, flour-grinding and agricultural
implements.
ii. Cottage Industries: Industries which artisans set up in their own houses, work with wood,
cane, brass, stone, etc., are called cottage industries. Handloom Khadi and leather work at
the artisans’ house fall in this category.
iii. Consumer Industries: Consumer industries convert raw materials or primary products into
commodities directly used by the people. Textile industry, bakeries, etc., are some of the
consumer industries.

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iv. Basic Industries: Industries, on which depend many other industries for their manufacturing
processes, are called basic industries. Power generating industry are included in this
category.
v. Capital-intensive Industries: Industries requiring huge investments are called capital-
intensive industries. Eg. Iron and steel, cement and aluminium.
vi. Labour-intensive Industries: Such industries which require huge labour force for running
them are called labour-intensive industries. Shoe- manufacturing and bidi making, etc. are
included in these industries.
IRON & STEEL INDUSTRY

 The location of steel industry is generally oriented to one or the other raw material sources,
mainly iron ore or coal.
 However, recent technological developments in transport as well as processing, the use of scrap
as raw material and agglomeration economies make market location, especially coastal,
advantageous as well.
 The steel manufacturing centers all the world over, exhibit different sorts of locational
orientation, viz,
i. Near coal deposits or iron ore mining areas, especially for inland location;
ii. Near the major steel consuming centers; or
iii. Sea port locations.
DISTRIBUTION
1. TISCO: Jamshedpur (Singhbhum district, Jharkhand),
2. IISCO: (Burnpur, Hirapur, Kalti)
3. VISL: (Bhadravati): (1923) on Bhadra River in Karnataka, Shimoga district
4. HSL-Bhilai: Largest plant in India established with Soviet assistance in 1959 in Raipur district of
M.P.
5. HSL-Rourkela: established in 1965 with German assistance in Sundargarh district of Odisha.
6. HSL-Durgapur: established in 1962 with British assistance in Burdwan district of West- Bengal.
7. BSL-Bokro: established in 1972 with Soviet collaboration in Hazaribag district on the confluence
of Bokaro and Damodar rivers.
8. Vishakhpatnam: first integrated plant in the coastal area
ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY
 Aluminium Industry in India is one of the leading industries in the Indian economy. The main
operations of the India aluminium industry is mining of ores, refining of the ore, casting,
alloying, sheet, and rolling into foils.
 India is the sixth largest producer of bauxite and ninth largest producer of alumina in the world.
Locational Factors
1. Aluminium is a raw material oriented industry as it grossly weight loosing.
2. Bauxite is the basic raw material in the aluminium manufacturing process. It is converted into
alumina in alumina refineries.

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3. Due to the high quality of bauxite and close proximity between bauxite mines and alumina
refineries, the cost of bauxite to Indian producer is one-third of that of global producers.
4. Other raw materials used in the manufacturing process are calcine, petroleum, coke, caustic
soda, aluminium fluoride, fuel oil, steam coal and anthracite coal.
5. The reduction of bauxite into alumina requires heavy amount of energy. Therefore, beside
nearness to bauxite deposits, cheap availability of power is the major consideration in the
location of this industry.
Major Production Centers
1. Korba- (Bharat Al. Co. Ltd): Bauxite – Amarkantak – Phula- Kapahara region, Electricity- Korba
Thermal Power Plant. Transport – Harwa- Nagpur Rail-line.
2. Renukoot (Hindustan All. Co. Ltd): set up in 1988 as one of the biggest unit. Bauxite – Bagni Hills
(Bihar) and Amarkanatak Mts. Electricity – Rihand Dam.
3. Mettur (Madras Al. Co. Ltd.) T. N.: Bauxite- Sheravoy Hill. Electricity – Mettur HEP.
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY
 Cotton textile industry comprises of three sectors: mill sector, handloom and power-loom. The
share of large mill, handloom and power-loom sector in the total production of cotton cloth in
1998-99 was 5.4 per cent, 20.6 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.
 The Cotton and synthetic fiber textile industry has made tremendous progress. Per capita
availability of cloth from both the types was 15 meters only in 1960-61. In the year 1995-96, it
has risen to 28 meters.
 This has enabled us to export cotton yarn, cotton fabrics and cotton and synthetic garments on
a large scale.
DISTRIBUTION
 It is one of the most widely distributed industries in our country. These mills are located in more
than 88 centers of the country. But majority of cotton textile mills are still located in the cotton
growing areas of the Great Plains and peninsular India.
 Maharashtra is the leading producer of cotton textile in the country. About a half of the Cotton
textile mills are located in Mumbai alone. It is, therefore, rightly called as ‘Cottonpolis’ of India.
Sholapur, Kohlapur, Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad and Jalgaon are other important centers in
Maharashtra.
 Gujarat ranks second in the production of cotton textiles. Ahemdabad is the major centre of the
state. Surat, Bharauch, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Rajkot are other centers in the state.
 Tamil Nadu has emerged as an important producer in southern states. Coimbatore is an
important centre in the state. Tirunelveli, Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Salem and
Thanjavour are other important centers here.
LOCATION FACTORS: Ahemdabad– Mumbai – Pune region

1. Availability of raw material – A large amount of cotton is grown in this belt.

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2. Availability of capital – Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Pure are the places where capital for
investment is easily available.
3. Means of transport – This region is well connected with the rest of India by roads and railways.
It, therefore, facilities transportation of finished products.
4. Accessibility to the market – Maharashtra and Gujarat has a large market to sell textile products
here. Developed means of transportation help in movement of textile products to other market
centers as well as to foreign market.
5. Nearness to ports – Mumbai port facilitates the import of machinery and good quality of cotton
from abroad and export of the finished products.
6. Cheap labour – Cheap and skilled labour is easily available from the surrounding areas.
7. Availability of power – Cheap and sufficient power is easily available here.
SILK TEXTILE INDUSTRY

 Indian Silk is known for its exquisiteness world over and has a long history of silk exports. The
silk was mainly produced by the handloom sector.
 Only in the late 20th century the modern silk fabric manufacturing techniques developed. Even
today the finer or the special textured fabrics are done on the handlooms.
 India holds 2nd position after China in the field of silk production. There are four different types
of silk-
o Mulberry
o Tasar
o Eri
o Muga (golden yellow). India has also a monopoly in Muga, Assam is the only producer.
 The first modern factory was established in 1932 at Howrah. State wise the distribution of silk
industry is as follows:-
a. Karnataka: 70% of total country’s silk output (only Mulberry). Production area: Banglore,
Mysore, Kolar, Mandya, Tumkur, Belgaum and Coorg districts.
b. Assam: 2% of total country putput, third largest producer of non-mulberry silk and the only
Muga producing region. Production area – Goalpara, Kamrup, Nawgaong; Mill – Jagi-Road.
c. West Bengal: 13% of the country’s production, mostly mulberry. Production area– Malda,
Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura.
d. Jharkhand: 8% of the country’s production, mostly tassar. Production area- Palamu, Ranchi,
Hazaribagh.
e. J&K: mostly mulberry producer; “Tabby”- white plain silk of J&K. Production area –
Anantnag, Baramula, Doda, Jammu, Udhampur.
f. Varanasi & Bombay are the main silk weaving centres.
JUTE INDUSTRY
 Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides. The production is concentrated
in India and Bangladesh.
o India with overall of 66% of world’s production tops the production of jute.
o Bangladesh with 25% lies at second position
o China with 3%.

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 It supports nearly 4 million farm families, besides providing direct employment to about 2.6 lakh
industrial workers and livelihood to another 1.4 lakh people in the tertiary and allied activities.
LOCATION FACTORS: Hugli basin

a. The Ganga-Brahmaputra delta grows about 90 per cent of India’s jute and provides raw
material to jute mills here.
b. Coal is obtained from Raniganj fields which are hardly 200 km away.
c. Cheap water transportation is available. The area is also served by a network of roads and
railways.
d. Abundant water is available for processing, washing and dyeing jute. Humid climate is very
convenient for spinning and weaving.
e. Kolkata is a big port which helps in the import of machinery and spare parts and in the
export of finished jute products.
f. High density of population in West Bengal and in the neighbouring parts of Jharkhand and
Bihar provides abundant cheap labour.
g. Big capitalists are living in and around Kolkata which makes easy flow of capital in this
industry.
h. Banking and insurance facilities are also available in and around Kolkata.
i. The early arrival of British merchants under the aegis of East India Company in Kolkata
helped in setting this industry here. So Kolkata enjoys the advantage of an early start.
AGRO INDUSTRIES
SUGAR INDUSTRY
 Sugar industry is the second largest agro- based industry of India. If we take Gur, Khandsari and
Sugar together, then India becomes the largest producer of sugar product in the world. This
industry employs about 2.5 lakh people.
DISTRIBUTION
 Most of the sugar mills are concentrated in six states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Localization Factors
 As sugarcane is the main raw material, sugar mills can be set up only in the sugarcane producing
areas. Sugarcane gets dry soon after harvesting. It can neither be stored nor kept for long period
of time. It should be taken immediately to the sugar mills after harvesting.
 Transportation cost of sugarcane is high. Generally sugarcane is transported through bullock
carts which can carry it upto 20-25 kilometers. Recently tractor trolleys and trucks have been
used to carry sugarcane to the sugar mills.
 Beside these factors, capital, market, labour and power also play significant role in localization
of this industry.
 Sugarcane industry is gradually shifting from north Indian states to states in Peninsular India.
Some of the important reasons:
a. The production of sugarcane per hectare is higher is Peninsular India. In fact, sugarcane crop
grows well in the tropical climate of south India.

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b. The sucrose content is higher in the tropical variety of sugarcane grown in the south.
c. The crushing season in south India is longer than in north India.
d. In south India, most of the mills have modern machinery.
e. Most of the mills in Peninsular India are in cooperative sector, where profit maximization is
not the sole objective.
TEA INDUSTRY
 Nearly 98 per cent of the tea production comes from Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
and Karnataka. Some tea is also grown in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and
Tripura.
a. The tea estates are generally set upon cleared hill slopes while in Assam, tea cultivation is
done in the lowlands, above the flood level.
b. The production of tea has more than doubled since independence mainly through increase
in yield by improved varieties and optimum use of inputs.
c. It provides direct gainful employment to more than one million workers mainly drawn from
the backward and socially weaker sections of the society.
d. It is also a substantial foreign exchange earner and provides significant contribution to the
state and central exchequer.
COFFEE INDUSTRY
 Coffee was first grown in Bababudan Hills in Karnataka during the 17th century, but on a
plantation scale, it was cultivated in Chikmaglur (Karnataka) in 1826.
 Although India contributes only a small percentage of the world production, Indian coffee has
created a niche for itself in the international market.
 Indian robustas, are highly preferred for their good blending quality. Arabica coffee from India is
also well received in the international market.
DISTRIBUTION
1. More than half of the country’s coffee production comes from Karnataka, of which 80 per cent
comes from Coorg and Chikmagalur. Hasan is the third largest producer in the state.
2. In Kerala, coffee is produced in Wynad (Palghat region), Kozhikode and Cannanore.
3. In Tamil Nadu, coffee comes from the Nilgiris, Annamalai (Coimbatore region) Shevaroy hills
(Salem district), Palani hills, Tirunelveli and Madurai.
4. Small quantities come from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and the north- eastern states.
LEATHER GOODS INDUSTRY

 Hides and skins are the basic raw materials which come from pelts of cattle and large animals
and small ones like goat and sheep. India has a large livestock population.
a. West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are the largest producers of cattle hides and Uttar Pradesh
and West Bengal of the goat skin.
b. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also produce substantial quality hides. Major footwear
production centres in the country include Kanpur, Agra, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai,
Mumbai, Bengaluru and Jaipur.

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 Leather is a highly labour-oriented industry in India, and has been identified as one of the major
thrust areas for export. It is one of the traditional industries of India spread over organized and
unorganized sector.
 The small-scale, cottage and artisan sector account for over 75% of the total leather production.
People employed in this sector are predominantly from the minorities and disadvantaged
sections of the society.
PETRO-CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
 Petro-chemicals industry is one of the fastest growing industries of India. This industry has
revolutionized the industrial scene by providing the products which are substituting the
traditional raw materials like wood, glass and metals.
 India is self-sufficient in the production of petrochemicals. They are derived from petroleum or
natural gas.
 We use a variety of products from morning till evening made from them such as toothbrushes,
toothpaste, combs, hairpins, soap cases, plastic mugs, electric switches, lipstick, and foam etc.
LOCATION FACTORS
1. The refineries seek mostly sea board location to take advantages of the imported crude or the
crude produced by the offshore oil field like Mumbai high.
2. Other trend is raw material based like Assam refineries which are based on inland oilfield.
3. Further, government policy has played an important role in setting up of certain market based
refineries like Mathura, Barauni and Panipat.
4. Indian Petro-Chemical Corporation has set up a huge complex near Vadodara producing a wide
range of products.
5. Gandhar and Hazira in Gujarat and Nagathone in Maharashtra are other important centers of
petro-chemical industry.
FERTILIZER INDUSTRY
 The fertility of the soil is the most important factor in agriculture. It depends upon phosphorus,
potassium, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, and others in proper amounts.
 Phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen are the principal elements in fertilizer industry which is an
important branch of chemical industry. Animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms also
contribute many materials used as fertilizer.
 Nitrogen provides vital foods for plants and sustenance for human life. Ironically, in the form of
nitric acid as an ingredient of munitions and explosives, it causes enormous human destruction.
LOCATION & DISTRIBUTION
1. The localization of fertilizer industry is closely related to petrochemicals. About 70% of the
plants producing nitrogenous fertilizer use naphtha as the basic raw material. That is why most
of the fertilizer plants are located near the oil refineries.
2. However, some fertilizer plants draw their feed stock from steel slug as well as coke and lignite.
3. Phosphatic fertilizer plants are primarily dependent upon mineral ‘phosphate’ which is available
in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Some plants are based on imported
phosphate mineral.
4. Sulphur is another important mineral used for manufacturing fertilizers. This is available in Tamil
Nadu.

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5. Gujarat is the largest producer of fertilizers in India and accounts for more than one-fourth of
the total production of nitrogenous as well as phosphatic fertilizers of the country.
6. At present, Tamil Nadu is the second largest producer of phosphate fertilizers (about 16%) and
the fourth largest producer of nitrogenous fertilizers nearly 9% of India.
DRUGS & PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

 The pharmaceutical industry is one of the oldest in India. It is at the top of the chart amongst
India’s science- based industries with wide ranging capabilities in the complex field of drug
manufacture and technology.
 The units are mostly located in Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Delhi, Pune, Rishikesh,
Hyderabad, Kanpur, Indore and Jaipur.
 The pharma industry of India ranks very high amongst all the third world countries, in terms of
technology, quality and the vast range of medicines that are manufactured.
a. It ranges from simple headache pills to sophisticated antibiotics and complex cardiac
compounds, almost every type of medicine is now made.
b. The pharmaceutical industry in India is among the most highly organized sectors. It plays an
important role in promoting and sustaining development in the field of global medicine.
c. Due to the presence of low cost manufacturing facilities, educated and skilled manpower
and cheap labour force among others, the industry is set to scale new heights in the fields of
production, development, manufacturing and research.
CEMENT INDUSTRY
LOCATION FACTORS
1. Manufacturing of cement requires heavy, low value and weight loosing materials and is
primarily a raw material oriented industry.
2. The availability of raw materials, bulk transport facilities at reasonably low cost and market are
the three main localization factors, which favour the growth of cement industry in India.
3. Limestone is the main raw material and comprises 60-65% of the total product. On an average,
1.5 tonnes of limestone are required to produce one tonne of cement. Hence, the location of a
cement plant is based on the limestone deposits.
4. The other raw materials used are sea shells, slag from steel plants and slag from fertilizer
plants and these raw materials influence the localization of cement industry in their own way.
5. The transportation cost is also reduced if the manufacturing plant is located near the market. In
fact, ready market is the pre-requisite for the proper growth of an industry, producing heavy
commodity with low specific cost like cement.
DISTRIBUTION
 India ranks second in the world next only to China in the production of cement.
 It is because of constraint of raw material that 86% of the factories and 75% of the production
capacity is found in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar.
IT INDUSTRY

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 The IT industry opened up new possibilities of economic and social transformation. It enabled
business process outsourcing (BPO) services continue to be on a robust growth path. The govt.
has created a number of software parks in the country.
 It accounts for 2% of India’s GDP. Most of them have acquired international quality certification.
A majority of the MNCs have either software development centres in India that provide quality
products.
 However, in the hardware development sector, India is yet to make any remarkable
achievements.
INDUSTRIAL CORRIDORS IN INDIA

 The Industrial corridor programme concentrates on infrastructural development of cities with
the objective to expand manufacturing and services base.
 The industrial corridors in India are:
1. Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor
i. The corridor project, being developed in co-operation with the government of Japan
ii. The DMIC runs across the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Gujarat and Maharashtra.
2. Amritsar-Kolkata corridor
i. AKIC will be developed in a band of 150-200 km on either side of the Eastern Dedicated
Freight Corridor (EDFC) in a phased manner.
ii. AKIC will be spread across a belt of at least 5.5 lakh sq km comprising 20 cities in seven
states — Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal
iii. The cities which will covered by the ADKIC Project are Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana,
Ambala, Saharanpur, Delhi, Roorkee, Moradabad,Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly,Aligarh, Kanpur,
Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Asansol, Durgapur and Kolkata
3. Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor

i. The corridor plans to come up along Chennai, Sriperumbudur, Ponnapanthangal, Ranipet,
Chittoor, Bangarupalem,Palamaner, Bangarpet, Hoskote and Bangalore.
ii. It is expected to boost commerce between south India and east Asia by enabling quicker
movement of goods from these places to the Chennai and Ennore ports.
iii. The corridor project, being developed in co-operation with the government of Japan.
4. Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor

i. The corridor project, being developed in co-operation with the government of UK.
ii. The corridor will start from Bengaluru, passing through Tumkur, Chitradurga, Hubli, Dharwad
and Belgaum (in Karnataka), Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Karad and Pune, and end in Mumbai
(in Maharashtra).
5. Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC)

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i. VCIC’s long coastline and strategically located ports provide it with an opportunity to create
multiple international gateways.
ii. It will connect India with the vibrant global production networks of Southeast and East Asia
that form the bedrock of global manufacturing.
MAJOR INDUSTRIAL REGIONS

1. Kolkata – Hooghly Belt
i. It is an old and important region of the country stretching along the either side of the river –
from Naihati to Budge- Budge along the left Bank and from Tribeni to Nalpur in the right
bank.
ii. Cotton textile, silks, jute, engineering, chemical and pharmaceuticals, leather and foot-
wears industries are located here.
iii. The region is facilitated with rich hinterland of Ganga, Brahmaputra Plain, and the enough
availability of and the port facility of Kolkata.
iv. The region is experiencing stagnation and relative decline in industrial growth in recent
years. The main problems are:
o High degree of congestion
o Gradual filling of Kolkata port making the shipping facilities somewhat difficult
Bottle-neck in South-East and Eastern rainy-days.
o Paucity of space
o Shortage of drinking water and civic amenities
o Environmental pollution
2. Mumbai-Poona Belt
i. It is the most important industrial region of the country. It has a heavy concentration of
cotton textile, engineering, oil refiners, fertilizers and chemical industries.
ii. The belt consists of Mumbai, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Thane, Bhandrup,
Kalyan, Pimpri and Poona.
iii. Cheap labour, easy availability of hydroelectricity, raw cotton along with the port facilities;
act as the main assets of this area.
iv. After partition, cotton producing area reduced and affected the raw material supply and
high transport cost of coal and other minerals affected the growth. But now it has developed
as an economic hub.
3. Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat Belt
i. It is the third largest industrial region comprising within its fold the centers of Kalol,
Ahmedabad, Nadiad, and Vadodara, Surat, Nava sari and Ankleshwar.
ii. Leather goods and a wide variety of engineering units are established here.
iii. The initial advantage was the availability of raw cotton from the hinterland and the
transport network along with the Kandla port.
4. Madurai-Coimbatore-Bangalore Region

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i. Cheap and skilled labour, availability of hydel power, large market were the chief factors,
which attracted a number of industries.
ii. Cotton textile, sugar plants, leather goods, chemicals, Iron and Steel
iii. Hindustan Aeronautics have assisted the development of this area.
5. Chotanagpur Plateau Region

i. Locally available coal, iron-ore mica, bauxite copper, limestone, manganese have given rise
to heavy industries like iron and steel at Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Kulti, Burnpur, Bokaro
along with many associated industries.
ii. Proximity to Kolkata port, vast network of railways, cheap labour supply from the tribal
areas and the development of numerous thermal power stations helped the area to
develop as a major industrial region on the map of India.
iii. Besides, many more mini industrial regions and industrial districts are fast emerging in
different parts of the country in recent times.
6. Mathura-Delhi-Saharanpur-Ambala belt
i. It has the advantage of the proximity of the national capital; availability of cheap raw
materials; nearness of large market and regular supply of power.
ii. This region spreads in two separate belts running in north-south direction between
Faridabad and Ambala in Haryana and Mathura and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
iii. The capital city has predominance of engineering, electronic, chemical, glass and consumer
industries.
7. Vishakhapatnam-Guntur Industrial Region:

i. This industrial region extends from Vishakhapatnam district in the north-eastern part of
Andhra Pradesh to Kurnool and Prakasham districts in the south-east and covers most of the
coastal Andhra Pradesh.
ii. Developed agriculture and rich mineral resources in the hinterlands of these ports provide
solid base to the industrial growth in this region. Coal fields of the Godavari basin are the
main source of energy.
iii. The other industries of this region include sugar, textiles, paper, fertilizers, cement,
aluminium and light engineering.
iv. The important industrial centres of this region are Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Vijaynagar,
Rajahmundry, Kurnool, Elum and Guntur.
v. Recent discovery of natural gas in Krishna- Godavari basin is likely to provide much needed
energy and help in accelerated growth of this industrial region.
8. Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Industrial Region:

i. This is comparatively small industrial region and spreads over Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam,
Alwaye, Emakulam and Allapuzha districts of south Kerala.

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ii. The region is located far away from the mineral belt of the country as a result of which the
industrial scene here is dominated by agricultural products processing and market oriented
light industries.
iii. The main industries are textiles, sugar, rubber, match box, glass, chemical fertilizers, food
and fish processing, paper, coconut coir products, aluminium and cement.
iv. Important industrial centres are Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Alluva, Kochi, Alappuzha and
Punalur.
*****
11. WATER RESOURCES
 Water is essential for human civilisation, living organisms, and natural habitat. It is used for
drinking, cleaning, agriculture, transportation, industry, recreation, and animal husbandry,
producing electricity for domestic, industrial and commercial use.
 On a global scale, total quantity of water available is about 1600 million cubic km. The
hydrologic cycle moves enormous quantity of water around the globe.
 However, much of the world’s water has little potential for human use because 97.5% of all
water on earth is saline water. Out of the remaining 2.5% freshwater, most of which lies deep
and frozen in Antarctica and Greenland, only about 0.26% fish in rivers, lakes and in the soils
and shallow aquifiers which are readily usable for mankind.
 India has about 4% of world’s freshwater resources ranking it among the top ten water rich
countries. Despite this, according to the Working Group II report of the Fourth Assessment of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, India is designated a ‘water stressed region’.
 In future, at the current rate it is expected that India with high demands will be termed a ‘water
scarce region’ as utilizable freshwater falls below the international standard of 1000 cu. m. per
year and per capita.
 Water demand is on a high due to rapid urbanization and industrialization along with the
traditional demand for agriculture.
SURFACE WATER RESOURCES

 There are four major sources of surface water. These are rivers, lakes, ponds, and tanks.
i. The mean annual flow in all the river basins in India is estimated to be 1,869 cubic km.
However, due to topographical, hydrological and other constraints, only about 690 cubic km
(32%) of the available surface water can be utilised.
ii. Water flow in a river depends on size of its catchment area or river basin and rainfall within
its catchment area. Given that precipitation is relatively high in the catchment areas of the
Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers, these rivers, although account for only about
one-third of the total area in the country, have 60% of the total surface water resources.
iii. Due to vast and indented coastline, a number of lagoons and lakes have formed. The States
like Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal have vast surface water resources in these lagoons and
lakes.

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iv. Although, water is generally brackish in these water-bodies, it is used for fishing and
irrigating certain varieties of paddy crops, coconut, etc.
DETERIORATION OF SURFACE WATER QUALITY

 Most Indian rivers are cesspools of waste dumped from various urban and industrial centres.
The pattern of destruction is similar for any river-industrial and domestic pollution, jagged
urbanization and encroachment, agricultural fertilizer and pesticide runoffs, erosion and silting,
over withdrawal of water, and inconsiderate religious practices.
 The demand for water is ever increasing leading to over-extraction. This abstraction of water in
excess from the river lessens the flow in it. It is very important to maintain the flow as it helps in
diluting and carrying the sewage and pollutants away.
 Irrigation canals and industrial units extract huge volumes of water, and in return, discharge
agricultural run-off waste and poisonous effluents. Many rivers suffer from silt deposition in its
bed - reducing flow, and disturbing the ecosystem.
 Deforestation near the source of the rivers, is leading to soil erosion, landslide, floods, silt
formation and sedimentation in rivers. In Indian rivers, siltation rate is among the highest in the
world.
 To regulate the flow in these rivers and store water and divert water for irrigation, and generate
power, a number of large dams and barrages have been built on many rivers. However, these
measures have been detrimental to the flow of water resulting in silt deposition. With the
storage of water, the natural flow in rivers is obstructed affecting the ecosystems.
 Draining of lake water for real estates in cities and cultivable and factory land in villages;
dumping of effluents- both domestic and industrial; agricultural runoff; encroachments, and
general neglect. Other threats include water hyacinth growth and discharge of dyes and paints
through idol immersion.
GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
 The total replenishable groundwater resources in the country are about 432 cubic km. The
Ganga and the Brahamaputra basins, have about 46% of the total replenishable groundwater
resources. In peninsular India, the underlying geology limits the formation of large continuous
aquifers.
 Coastal regions are rich in groundwater owing to the largely alluvial terrain, but the aquifers risk
being contaminated by saltwater ingress due to over pumping.
 It is contributing more than 85% of the drinking water requirements of rural areas, about 58% of
irrigation requirements and more than 50% of the urban and industrial water supplies.
 The incessant and mindless withdrawal over the past decades has suddenly triggered off a
series of crisis. Foremost among them is the plummeting of the water table.
 This led to exploring of fossil aquifers that cannot be replenished. Excessive drilling of
borewells, along with the use of mechanised pumping has led many parts of the country’s
groundwater aquifers to go dry and have been declared as ‘dark zones’.
 Another major problem due to the abstraction of groundwater from the fossil aquifers resulted
in chemical reaction of water with the rocks ushering in contaminated water. The aquifer
waters became contaminated with high levels of arsenic and fluoride from the rocky layers.

P a g e | 88
 Excessive abstraction of groundwater especially in coastal areas has resulted in seawater

ingression making the available water useless.
WATER CONSERVATION & MANAGEMENT

 Since there is a declining availability of fresh water and increasing demand, the need has arisen
to conserve and effectively manage this precious life giving resource for sustainable
development.
 Besides developing water saving technologies and methods, attempts are also to be made to
prevent the pollution. There is need to encourage watershed development, rainwater
harvesting, water recycling and reuse, and conjunctive use of water for sustaining water supply
in long run.
 The legislative provisions such as the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, and
Environment Protection Act 1986 have not been implemented effectively.
 There is a strong need to generate public awareness about importance of water and impacts of
water pollution. It can be very effective in reducing the pollutants from agricultural activities,
domestic and industrial discharges.
WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT
 Watershed management includes conservation, regeneration and judicious use of all resources
– natural (like land, water, plants and animals) and human with in a watershed. It refers to
efficient management and conservation of surface and groundwater resources.
 It involves prevention of run-off and storage and recharge of groundwater through various
methods like percolation tanks, recharge wells, etc. The success of watershed development
largely depends upon community participation.
 The Central and State Governments have initiated many watershed development and
management programmes in the country such as Haryali, Neeru-Meeru (Water and You)
programme (in Andhra Pradesh) and Arvary Pani Sansad (in Alwar, Rajasthan).
 Tamil Nadu has made water harvesting structures in the houses compulsory.
RAINWATER HARVESTING
 Rainwater harvesting essentially means collecting rainwater on the roofs of building and storing
it underground for later use.
 Not only does this recharging arrest groundwater depletion, it also raises the declining water
table and can help augment water supply. Some of the benefits of it are:
i. Increases water availability
ii. Is environmentally friendly
iii. Improves the quality of groundwater through the dilution of fluoride, nitrate, and salinity
iv. Prevents soil erosion and flooding especially in urban areas
 Traditional rainwater harvesting in rural areas is done by using surface storage bodies like lakes,
ponds, irrigation tanks, etc. There are many such bodies which have been in disuse for the
longer time and can be reused as the recharging points.
 Use of water of lesser quality such as reclaimed waste-water would be an attractive option for
industries for cooling and fire fighting to reduce their water cost.

P a g e | 89
 Similarly, in urban areas, water after bathing and washing utensils can be used for gardening.
Water used for washing vehicle can also be used for gardening.
CONSERVATION OF WATER IN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

 Simple techniques can be used to reduce the demand for water. The underlying principle is that
only part of the rainfall or irrigation water is taken up by plants, the rest percolates into the
deep groundwater, or is lost by evaporation from the surface.
 Therefore, by improving the efficiency of water use, and by reducing its loss due to
evaporation, we can reduce water demand. There are numerous methods to improve soil
moisture. Some of them are listed below.
a. Mulching i.e., the application of organic or inorganic material such as plant debris, compost,
etc., slows down the surface run-off, improves the soil moisture, reduces evaporation losses
and improves soil fertility.
b. Ploughing helps to move the soil around. It retains more water thereby reducing
evaporation.
c. Shelter belts of trees and bushes along the edge of agricultural fields slow down the wind
speed and reduce evaporation and erosion.
d. Planting of trees, grass, and bushes breaks the force of rain and helps rainwater penetrate
the soil. Fog and dew contain substantial amounts of water that can be used directly by
adapted plant species.
e. Artificial surfaces such as netting-surfaced traps or polyethylene sheets can be exposed to
fog and dew. The resulting water can be used for crops.
f. Contour farming is adopted in hilly areas and in lowland areas for paddy fields. Farmers
recognize the efficiency of contour-based systems for conserving soil and water.
g. Salt-resistant varieties of crops have also been developed recently. Because these grow in
saline areas, overall agricultural productivity is increased without making additional
demands on freshwater sources.
h. Better Irrigation System: The use of micro-irrigation techniques over surface irrigation will
help in better conservation of water by promoting its judicious use.
Other prominent methods to solve the problem of water crisis in India

o Use of Desalination technologies such as distillation, electro-dialysis and reverse osmosis
particularly in coastal areas and brackish water in arid and semi-arid areas.
o Interlinking of rivers-transfer of water from water surplus areas to water deficit areas through
inter linking of rivers.
o Sustainable water pricing policy.
o Efficient use of water in household activities.
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12. TRANSPORT
 Transport carries the people and goods from one place to another. It helps both the production,
distribution as well as consumption processes. Transport consists of three different modes -
land, water and air.
 Each one of them has some advantages and disadvantages. They all compete with one another.
More importantly, they complement each other and in the process constitute a single
integrated network.
RAIL TRANSPORT
 Indian railway network is the fourth largest in the world after Russia, the U.S.A. and Canada.
Indian railways have taken several measures to improve their efficiency and usefulness to the
public:
a. Considerable increase in railway running track.
b. Increase in electrification of busy trunk routes.
c. Conversion of meter gauge railway lines into broad gauge.
d. Introducing several types of fast and superfast passenger trains running fast goods and
special food grain trains.
e. Provide better facilities for reservation and other customer care services, introducing
reservation through internet.
f. Recently Indian railways achieve to make railway line from Jammu to Baramula via Katra. At
this line the highest railway bridge of the world was made.
g. The metro rail project has been launched in many cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru,
Chennai, Lucknow etc.
h. Between Mumbai to Ahmadabad the Bullet train proposed with the help of Japan.
Zone Head Quarter

NR NDLS (Delhi)
CR Mumbai (CST)
WR Mumbai (Church gate)

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ER Kolkata
SER Kolkata
Kolkata Metro Kolkata
SR Chennai
SCR Secunderabad
NER Gorakhpur
NE Frontier Malegaon (Guwahati)
E Central Hajipur
N Central Allahabad
W Central Jabalpur
SEC Bilaspur
SW Hubli
NW Jaipur
EC Bhuvneshwar
ROAD TRANSPORT
 Road transport is an old country. India has more than 90,000 km road means of transport. It
plays a significant rolein network carrying goods and people in all parts of the world.
 On the basis of location, construction and maintenance, roads are classified into:
a. National Highways
b. State Highways
c. District roads
d. Village roads
e. Border roads
SOME IMPORTANT NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

o N-H7 from Varanasi to Kanyakumari is longest national highways.
o N-H6 from Kolkata to Hazera is longest national highways.
o N-H5 from Chennai to Kolkata is longest national highways.
o N-H15 from Samiakhali (Kandla) to Pathankot is longest national highways.
WATERWAYS
 The Indian mainland together with its island groups has a long coastline of over 6100 km. This
long coastline is dotted with 12 major ports managed by the central government.
 Then there are 186 minor ports operating under the jurisdiction of the state governments. The
12 major ports handle 90% of international water borne trade of the country. The water
transport is of two types: inland and oceanic.
o Inland waterways: India has 14,500 km of navigable waterways, contributing about 1% to the
country’s transportation.
a. For the develpoment, maintenance and regulaton of national waterways, the Inland
Waterways Aithority was setup in 1986.

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b. The backwaters of Kerala has special significance as they provide cheap transport and
attract large number of toursits in Kerala.
o Oceanic Routes: Apart from international trade, they are used for the purpose of transportation
between the islands and the rest of the country.
AIR TRANSPORT
 Air transport becomes very important in the regions where surface means of transport are
difficult forests, marshy land, hilly terrain and high to develop.These regions may have dense
mountains.
 In 1953, it was nationalised, 2 corporations were formed:
1. INDIAN AIRLINES
2. AIR INDIA INTERNATIONAL
 The International Airports Division (IAD) of Airport Authority of India operates, maintains and
develops the international airports.
 Private air services have been started since 1990 and play role of feeders to Indian Airlines.
 Airport Authorit of India is the body responsible for providing safe and efficient air traffic
services and aeronautical communication services for effective control of air traffic in air space.
OIL & GAS PIPELINES

 It is basically used for transport of crude oil and gas. There are certain advantages of pipelines
over other modes of transport:
o Pipe line can be laid through difficult terrain as well as under water.
o Initial cost of laying pipeline is high but subsequent cost for maintenance and operation is low.
o It ensures steady supply and minimizes transshipment losses and delays.
o Pipe line operation involves very low consumption of energy.
o Petroleum pipelines in Assam connect oil fields with the oil refineries of Assam and Bihar. Pipe
line between Kandla and Mathura is the longest oil pipe line (1220 km).
o There are several pipe lines in the Gujarat and Maharashtra connecting the oil fields, refineries
and marketing centers.
o The longest gas pipe line has been laid from Hazira (Gujarat) to Jagdishpur (UP) via Bijaipur (MP).
This HBJ pipe line is 1730 km in length and supplies natural gas to six fertilizer plants and two
thermal power plants.
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13. POPULATION
POPULATION
 India’s total population stands at 1.21 billion, which is 17.7% more than the last decade, and
growth of females was higher than that of males.
 There was an increase of 90.97 million males and increase of 90.99 million females. The growth
rate of females was 18.3% which is higher than males- 17.1%. India’s population grew by 17.7%
during 2001-11, against 21.5% in the previous decade.
 Among the major states, highest decadal growth in population has been recorded in Bihar
(25.4%) while 14 states and Union Territories have recorded population growth above 20%.
RURAL & URBAN POPULATION

 Altogether, 833.5 million persons live in rural area as per Census 2011, which was more than
two- third of the total population, while 377.1 million persons live in urban areas.
 Urban proportion has gone up from 17.3% in 1951 to 31.2% in 2011. Empowered Action Group
(EAG) states have lower urban proportion (21.1%) in comparison to non-EAG states (39.7%).
 Highest proportion of urban population is in NCT Delhi (97.5%). Top five states in share of urban
population are Goa (62.2%), Mizoram (52.1%), Tamil Nadu (48.4%), Kerala (47.7%) and
Maharashtra (45.2%).
Highest populous UT Delhi

Least populous UT Lakshadweep
Highest populous state Uttar Pradesh
Least populous state Sikkim
Highest urban population in India (State and Maharashtra
UT)
Lowest urban population in India (State and UT) Lakshadweep

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Highest rural population in India (State and UT) Uttar Pradesh

Lowest rural population in India (State and UT) Lakshadweep
LITERACY
 Literacy rate in India in 2011 has increased by 8% to 73% in comparison to 64.8 per cent in 2001.
While male literacy rate stands at 80.9%- which is 5.6% more than the previous census, the
female literacy rate stands at 64.6% - an increase of 10.9% than 2001.
 The highest increase took place in Dadra and Nagar Haveli by 18.6 points (from 57.6% to 76.2%),
Bihar by 14.8 points (from 47.0% to 61.8%), Tripura by 14.0 points (from 73.2% to 87.2%)
 Improvement in female literacy is higher than males in all states and UTs, except Mizoram
(where it is same in both males and females) during 2001-11.
 The gap between literacy rate in urban and rural areas is steadily declining in every census.
Gender gap in literacy rate is steadily declining in every census. In Census 2011, the gap stands
at 16.3 points.
 Top five states and UTs, where literacy rate is the highest, are Kerala (94%), Lakshadweep
(91.8%), Mizoram (91.3%), Goa (88.7%) and Tripura (87.2%). The bottom five states and UTs are
Bihar (61.8%), Arunachal Pradesh (65.4%), Rajasthan (66.1%), Jharkhand (66.4%) and Andhra
Pradesh (67%).
Total Person Literacy Rate 74%

Males 82.14%
Females 65.46%
Highest literacy rate in state Kerala (94%)
Lowest literacy rate in state Bihar (61.8%)
Highest literacy rate in UT Lakshadweep (91%)
Lowest literacy rate in UT Dadra and Nagar Haveli (76.24%)
DENSITY
 The density of population in the country has also increased from 325 in 2001 to 382 in 2011 in
per sq km. Among the major states, Bihar occupies the first position with a density of 1106,
surpassing West Bengal which occupied the first position during 2001.
 Delhi (11,320) turns out to be the most densely inhabited followed by Chandigarh (9,258),
among all states and UT’s, both in 2001 and 2011 Census. The minimum population density
works out in Arunachal Pradesh (17) for both 2001 and 2011 Census.
SEX RATIO
 The sex ratio of population in the country in 2011 stands at 940 female against 1000 males,
which is 10% more than the last census when the number female per thousand male stood at
933. Haryana has the dubious distinction of having the worst male-female ratio among all
states while Kerala fares the best.

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 The number of females per 1000 males in Haryana in 2011 stands at 879 followed by Jammu
and Kashmir (889 females) and Punjab (895 females). The other two worst-performing states in
terms of skewed sex ratio are Uttar Pradesh (912 females) and Bihar (918 females).
 Five top performing states in terms of sex ratio were Kerala (1,084 females), Tamil Nadu (996),
Andhra Pradesh (993), Chhattisgarh (991), Odisha (979).
Sex Ratio (Females per 1000 Males)

Sex Ratio in India 94.3
Highest sex ratio in state Kerala (1084)
Lowest sex ratio in state Haryana (879)
Highest sex ratio in UT Pondicherry (1037)
Lowest sex ratio in UT Daman and Diu (618)
Child (0-6 years) sex ratio 914
Highest child (0-6) sex ratio in state Mizoram (971)
Lowest child (0-6) sex ratio in state Haryana (830)
CHILD POLULATION
 Child population in the age of 0 to 6 years has seen an increase of 0.4% to 164.5 million in 2011
from 163.8 million in 2001. The child population (0-6) is almost stationary. In 17 states and UTs,
the child population has declined in 2011 compared to 2001.
 With the declaration of sex ratio in the age group 0-6, the Census authorities tried to bring out
the recent changes in the society in its attitude and outlook towards the girl child. It was also an
indicator of the likely future trends of sex ratio in the population.
 There has been a decline of 8% in the sex ratio of 0-6 age group. In 2011, the child sex ratio (0-6)
stands at 919 female against 1000 male in comparison to 927 females in 2001.
 Male child (0-6) population has increased whereas female child population has decreased
during 2001-11. Eight states, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Meghalaya have proportion of child population more than
15%.
 The worst performing states in regard to sex ration in the age group of 0 to 6 years are Haryana
(834 females), Punjab (846), Jammu and Kashmir (862), Rajasthan (888) and Gujarat (890).
 The best performing states are Chhattisgarh (969), Kerala (964), Assam (962), West Bengal (956)
Jharkhand (948) and Karnataka (948).
SC/ST DATA
 According to the Census, Scheduled Castes are notified in 31 states and UTs and Scheduled
Tribes in 30 states. There are altogether 1,241 individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as SC’s in
different states and UT’s.
 The number of individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as ST’s is 705. There has been some
changes in the list of SC’s/ST’s in states and UT’s during the last decade.
 The SC population in India now stands at 201.4 million, which is 20% more than the last census.
The ST population stands at 104.3 million in 2011 – 23.7% more than 2001.

P a g e | 96
RELIGIOUS DEMOGRAPHICS
 The religious data on India Census 2011 was released by the Government of India on 25 August
2015. Hindus are 79.8% (966.3 million), while Muslims are 14.23% (172.2 million) in India.
 For the first time, a “No religion” category was added in the 2011 census. 2.87 million were
classified as people belonging to “No Religion” in India.
 There are six religions in India that have been awarded “National Minority” status – Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.
*****

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Indian Geography for G.S.-1 Mains

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THE NORTHERN & NORTH-EASTERN MOUNTAINS

THE HIMALAYAN RANGES

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2. MIDDLE OR LESSER HIMALAYAS

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b. This range merges with the Kailash range in Tibet.

THE NORTHERN PLAINS

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THE PENINSULAR PLATEAU

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1. THE DECCAN PLATEAU

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3. THE NORTH-EASTERN PLATEAU

THE INDIAN DESERT

THE COASTAL PLAINS

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1. THE WESTERN COASTAL PLAINS

2. THE EASTERN COASTAL PLAINS

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3. DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF INDIA

DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF INDIA

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intrellis, radial and

 The Drainage system of India is an outcome of physiography and characteristics of precipitation.

THE HIMALAYAN DRAINAGE SYSTEM

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2. THE GANGA RIVER SYSTEM

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3. THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM

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