Ch

hapter 1
Reesources and
a Development
R
Resources
Suubstances available in ourr environment that can be
b used for sppecific purpooses and are
teechnologicallly accessible,, economicallly viable andd culturally acceptable
a
aree referred too as
reesources.

Classificatio
C
on of Resou
urces
Resources cann be classifiedd on the basis of
R
Orig
gin: Biotic annd abiotic
Exhaaustibility: Renewable and non-rennewable
Own
nership: Inddividual, com
mmunity-ownned, nationall and internaational
Statu
us of Devellopment: Potential, devveloped and stock
s

Biotic Resourcess: Having lifee

Tree

Humaan

Birds

Fish

Animaal

Abioticc Resourcees: Non-livinng

Stonnes

W
Water

Mounntains

Renewab
ble Resourrces: Can bee reproducedd or replenishhed

Solar energy

Wind energgy

Forest

Water

Non-renew
wable Reso
ources: Cannnot be reprooduced or reeplenished. They
T take milllions
of years to form.
f
E.g. Metalls, fossils fueels, minerals etc.

Coaal

Petroll

IIndividual Resourcess
Privattely owned by
b individualss
E.g. Inndividual ow
wnership of laand in the forrm of housess and agriculttural fields
Community
C
y-Owned Resources
R
Accesssible to all members
m
of a communityy

E.g. Village
V
pondss, public parkks, burial groounds etc.
National
N
Reesources
Thosee resources thhat exist withhin the territtory of a nation.
All miinerals, wateer bodies, forrests, wildlife
fe etc. withinn the countryy and within 12
nauticcal miles from
m the sea coaast are called national resources.
Internation
I
nal Resourcces
Thosee oceanic ressources that do
d not lie within the Excllusive Econoomic Zone off any
nationn.
They are managedd by international instituttions and eacch country haas an equal riight
to acccess these ressources.
Potential
P
Resources
R
Thouggh they are inn existence, they
t are not being complletely utilized.
E.g. Potential
P
of wind
w and solaar energy in Rajasthan
R
Developed
D
d Resourcess
Thosee resources thhat have beenn surveyed annd are readyy for utilizatioon.
Stock
S
n been utilized owing to
t lack of techhnical expertise.
Resouurces that exiist but have not
E.g. Making
M
hydroogen and oxyygen from waater
Reserves
R
a those ressources for whose
w
utilizattion man has the technicaal know-how
w but
They are
has noot started usinng them.
E.g. Use
U of river water
w
for gennerating electtricity
Problems
P
Related to Resources
R
Depleetion of resouurces due to over-utilizattion.
Accum
mulation in feew hands.
Indiscrriminate expploitation of resources
r
resulting in ecoological imbaalances.
Su
ustainable Developm
ment
Itt refers to thaat developmeent which is lasting enough to be usedd by the futuure generatioons.
D
Development
t should be suuch that it dooes not comppromise withh the needs of
o the comingg
geenerations.
Rio
R de Janeiro Earth Summit, 19992
NCED)
Unitedd Nations Coonference onn Environmennt and Devellopment (UN
Held at
a Rio de Janneiro in Braziil.
First ever
e Internattional Earth Summit.
S
Aimedd at addressinng the probleem of enviroonmental deggradation andd finding wayys of
proteccting the envvironment.
The declaration onn global clim
matic change and
a biodiverssity was signed.
G
Forestt Principles were
w adoptedd.
The Global

AGEN
NDA 21 wass formulated.
Aims at achhieving globaal sustainablee developmeent.
For combaating environnmental damaage, povertyy and diseasess through gloobal
cooperatioon.
Every counntry is suppoosed to formuulate its ownn Agenda 21.
Resource
R
Pllanning
It is neecessary for making
m
maxiimum utilizaation of the available resoources.
It invoolves
Identificatiion of resourrces through surveys, mapping and measurement.
m
.
Evolving a structure foor utilizing reesources by means
m
of appropriate
technologyy and skills.
Synchronizzing the resoource developpment plans with the national
developmeent goals.
d
throughh the Five Year Plans.
Resouurce planningg in India is done
Conservatio
C
on of Resou
urces
Resouurces need too be conserveed as they aree vital for development.
Over--utilization annd irrational consumption of resourcees creates eccological
imbalaance.
Brun
ndtland Com
mmission Report
R
of 19987 introducced the conceept of Sustaiinable
Develoopment that focused
fo
on thhe conservatiion of resourrces for the fuuture.
Land
L
Resou
urces
Land is
i the basic natural
n
resourrce on whichh all other resources existt.
Indiass total land area:
a
3.28 miillion sq. km
m.
Plains: 43%
%
Mountainss: 30%
2
Plateaus: 27%
Uses of Land
Forests
Net sown area
a
Pastures
Housing
Roads
Barren andd waste land
Culturablee waste land
Fallow landd
Area underr miscellaneoous trees, croops and grovves
Natio
onal Forest Policy (19332) envisages 33% of thee land area unnder forests in
i
India. However, itt is only 22%
%.

Land Degradation
L
Causees
Deforestattion
Over-graziing
Mining andd quarrying
Over-irriggation
Mineral prrocessing
Industrial effluents
e
Jharkhhand, Chhatttisgarh, Madhhya Pradesh and Orissa arre the states where
deforeestation, owiing to miningg activities, has
h resulted in
i the degraddation of landd.
In Rajasthan, Gujaarat and Maharashtra, thee main cause of land degraadation is ovvergrazinng.
Meth
hods for Sto
opping Lan
nd Degradaation
Afforestatiion
Proper maanagement off grazing
Stabilizatioon of sand duunes
Control off mining activvities
Proper discharge of inddustrial efflueents
Soil
Soil is a renewablee natural resoource.
It takees millions off years to forrm.
It is foormed by thee action of temperature, running
r
wateer, wind andd glaciers.

n
SSoil Erosion
T washing away of the top layer of soil by the action of windd and water is called soil
The
e
erosion.
Soil foormation andd soil erosionn are simultanneous processses and a ballance exists
betweeen the two.
Activiities such as
Deforestattion
Over-graziing
Mining
Constructiion
o soil erosionn and disturbb the natural balance.
Increaase the rate of
Gully
y Erosion an
nd Badland
ds

Deep channnels called gullies

g
are forrmed when fast
f running water
w
cuts
through thhe soft clayeyy soil making deep ravines.
o land becom
mes unfit forr cultivation and
a is called badland.
This type of
mbal basin in Madhya
M
Praddesh
E.g. Cham
w
water fllows as a sheet down a sloope and washhes Sheett Erosion: Itt is caused when
off thee top layer off soil. Windss can also bloow-off the toop layer of sooil.
Methods
M
off Soil Conseervation
Ploughhing along thhe contour lines of slopess
Terracce farming
Plantinng strips of grass
g
between crops restrricts the flow
w of water annd breaks winnd
speed. This is calleed strip cro
opping.
m the fast mooving winds and
a preventss
Plantinng lines of trrees creates a shelter from
erosioon. These aree called sheltter beds.

Studeents Con
ntributio
on to Reevision Notes
N
Land
d Degradatiion
Land degradation is a human induced
i
or natural processs which neggatively affectts the land
to funnction effectiively with in an ecosystem
m, by acceptting, storing and recyclinng water,
energgy and nutrieents.
Conntributed by:
Garim
ma Dhirayan

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