NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science (Contemporary India II) Chapter 3: Water Resources (NCERT 2026–27)

These Class 10 Geography Chapter 3 solutions cover Water Resources from Contemporary India II, the NCERT Geography textbook for the 2026–27 session. The chapter explains why a renewable resource like water still leads to water scarcity, how India has managed water through multi-purpose river projects and large dams, the criticism such projects face, and how the country is reviving rainwater harvesting as a sustainable alternative. Below you get step-by-step answers to all end-of-chapter Exercises (reproduced verbatim), notes on key terms, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason questions and FAQs.

Class: 10 Subject: Social Science (Geography) Book: Contemporary India II Chapter: 3 Topic: Water Resources Session: 2026–27
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Class 10 Geography Chapter 3 – Overview

Chapter 3, Water Resources, begins with the puzzle that although water is renewable through the hydrological cycle, regions still suffer water scarcity — caused mainly by over-exploitation, excessive use, growing population, expanding irrigation and industries, and by pollution that makes available water unfit for use. To conserve and manage water, India built dams and multi-purpose river projects (Bhakra-Nangal, Hirakud, Sardar Sarovar), which Nehru called the ‘temples of modern India’ because they integrate irrigation, hydel power, flood control, water supply, navigation and fish breeding. However, these projects have come under criticism for displacing people, harming river ecology, inducing sedimentation and even floods, and triggering inter-state disputes (Krishna-Godavari). The chapter then turns to rainwater harvesting — ancient traditions like guls, kuls, khadins, johads and underground tankas of Rajasthan, rooftop harvesting in Shillong and Gendathur, and the bamboo drip irrigation of Meghalaya — as a viable, eco-friendly way to conserve water.

Key Terms & Concepts

Hydrological cycle: the continuous movement of water through evaporation, condensation and precipitation that constantly renews and recharges freshwater from surface run-off and groundwater — this is why water is a renewable resource.

Water scarcity: shortage of water relative to demand. It is caused not only by low rainfall but mostly by over-exploitation, excessive use, unequal access among social groups, large and growing population, expanding irrigation and industries, and by pollution of available water.

Dam: a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. Dams have a spillway or weir over which water flows, and are classified by structure, purpose or height.

Multi-purpose river project: a project in which the many uses of impounded water — irrigation, electricity generation, water supply, flood control, recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding — are integrated with one another (e.g. Bhakra-Nangal, Hirakud, Sardar Sarovar).

Rainwater harvesting: collecting and storing rainwater (rooftop water, surface run-off, flood water) for later use or to recharge groundwater, using local techniques suited to the ecology.

Traditional harvesting structures: guls / kuls (diversion channels of the Western Himalayas), khadins (Jaisalmer) and johads (Rajasthan) for storing rain on fields, and underground tankas in Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer for storing drinking water (palar pani).

Bamboo drip irrigation: a 200-year-old Meghalaya system that taps stream and spring water through bamboo pipes; about 18–20 litres of water is reduced to 20–80 drops per minute at the plant’s roots.

Government schemes: the Jal Jeevan Mission (assured piped water of 55 litres per capita per day to rural households), Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) for water-stressed Gram Panchayats, and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana for protective irrigation (‘har khet ko pani’, ‘per drop more crop’).

“Exercises” — Full Solutions

All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Exercises section. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Based on the information given below classify each of the situations as ‘suffering from water scarcity’ or ‘not suffering from water scarcity’. (a) Region with high annual rainfall. (b) Region having high annual rainfall and large population. (c) Region having high annual rainfall but water is highly polluted. (d) Region having low rainfall and low population.

ANSWER (a) Region with high annual rainfall — not suffering from water scarcity (plenty of water is available and demand is not stated to be high). (b) Region having high annual rainfall and large population — suffering from water scarcity (a large population needs much more water for domestic use, food production and industry, so demand can outstrip supply). (c) Region having high annual rainfall but water is highly polluted — suffering from water scarcity (even when water is abundant, pollution makes it hazardous and unfit for use). (d) Region having low rainfall and low population — not suffering from water scarcity (the small population’s limited needs can be met even with little rainfall).

(ii) Which one of the following statements is not an argument in favour of multi-purpose river projects? (a) Multi-purpose projects bring water to those areas which suffer from water scarcity. (b) Multi-purpose projects by regulating water flow helps to control floods. (c) Multi-purpose projects lead to large scale displacements and loss of livelihood. (d) Multi-purpose projects generate electricity for our industries and our homes.

ANSWER (c) Multi-purpose projects lead to large scale displacements and loss of livelihood. This is a disadvantage of such projects, not an argument in their favour. Options (a), (b) and (d) describe benefits — supplying water, controlling floods and generating electricity — so they support multi-purpose projects.

(iii) Here are some false statements. Identify the mistakes and rewrite them correctly. (a) Multiplying urban centres with large and dense populations and urban lifestyles have helped in proper utilisation of water resources. (b) Regulating and damming of rivers does not affect the river’s natural flow and its sediment flow. (c) Today in Rajasthan, the practice of rooftop rainwater water harvesting has gained popularity despite high water availability due to the Indira Gandhi Canal.

ANSWER (a) Mistake: growing urban centres do not help in proper utilisation of water; they add to the problem.
Correct: Multiplying urban centres with large and dense populations and urban lifestyles have added to the demand for water and energy and aggravated the problem of water resources, leading to over-exploitation of fragile water resources. (b) Mistake: damming a river does affect its flow.
Correct: Regulating and damming of rivers affects the river’s natural flow, causing poor sediment flow and excessive sedimentation at the bottom of the reservoir, and fragments rivers, making it difficult for aquatic life to migrate. (c) Mistake: the practice has declined, not gained popularity.
Correct: Today in Rajasthan, the practice of rooftop rainwater harvesting is on the decline as plenty of water is available due to the perennial Indira Gandhi Canal, though some houses still maintain the tankas.

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Explain how water becomes a renewable resource.

ANSWER Water is constantly renewed and recharged through the hydrological cycle — evaporation, condensation and precipitation. Surface run-off and groundwater are continually replenished, so the world’s freshwater keeps circulating, making water a renewable resource.

(ii) What is water scarcity and what are its main causes?

ANSWER Water scarcity is the shortage of water relative to its demand. Its main causes are over-exploitation, excessive use, a large and growing population, expanding irrigation and industries, unequal access, and pollution of available water.

(iii) Compare the advantages and disadvantages of multi-purpose river projects.

ANSWER Advantages: irrigation, electricity, water supply, flood control, navigation and fish breeding. Disadvantages: they displace people, disturb river ecology, cause sedimentation, induce floods and earthquakes, and trigger inter-state disputes.

3. Answer the following questions in about 120 words.

(i) Discuss how rainwater harvesting in semi-arid regions of Rajasthan is carried out.

ANSWER In the semi-arid and arid regions of Rajasthan, particularly in Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, almost all the houses traditionally had underground tanks or tankas for storing drinking water. These tankas could be as large as a big room — one household in Phalodi had a tank 6.1 metres deep, 4.27 metres long and 2.44 metres wide. The tankas were part of a well-developed rooftop rainwater harvesting system, built inside the main house or courtyard and connected to the sloping roofs through a pipe. Rain falling on the rooftops travelled down the pipe and was stored in the underground tankas. The first spell of rain was not collected, as it cleaned the roofs and pipes; rainwater from later showers was collected. This stored rainwater, called palar pani, is considered the purest form of natural water and remained a reliable source of drinking water in the dry summer months when all other sources dried up. Many households also built underground rooms next to the tanka to beat the summer heat.

(ii) Describe how modern adaptations of traditional rainwater harvesting methods are being carried out to conserve and store water.

ANSWER In many parts of rural and urban India, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being successfully adapted to store and conserve water. In Gendathur, a remote village in Mysuru, Karnataka, nearly 200 households have installed rooftop rainwater harvesting structures; with an annual precipitation of 1,000 mm and 80 per cent collection efficiency, each house can collect about 50,000 litres a year, and the village is now rich in rainwater. Shillong in Meghalaya practises rooftop harvesting widely, meeting 15–25 per cent of each household’s water needs even though it faces acute shortage. Tamil Nadu became the first state to make rooftop rainwater harvesting structures compulsory for all houses, with legal provisions to punish defaulters. Modern systems collect rooftop water through PVC pipes, filter it through sand and bricks, and use it directly or to recharge groundwater through hand pumps and abandoned dug-wells, conserving and storing water for the future.

Extra Practice Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Name any four uses for which dams are built today.

ANSWERToday dams are built not just for irrigation but for electricity generation, water supply for domestic and industrial uses, flood control, recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding. Because they serve many purposes, they are called multi-purpose projects.

Q2. Why did Jawaharlal Nehru call dams the ‘temples of modern India’?

ANSWERNehru proudly called dams the ‘temples of modern India’ because they would integrate the development of agriculture and the village economy with rapid industrialisation and the growth of the urban economy, leading the nation to development and progress.

Q3. What is the goal of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)?

ANSWERThe goal of the Jal Jeevan Mission is to enable every rural household to get an assured supply of potable piped water at a service level of 55 litres per capita per day on a regular, long-term basis by ensuring functioning tap water connections.

Q4. What is the bamboo drip irrigation system?

ANSWERIt is a 200-year-old system in Meghalaya for tapping stream and spring water using bamboo pipes. About 18–20 litres of water enters the pipe, is carried over hundreds of metres, and is reduced to 20–80 drops per minute at the roots of the plant.

Q5. How can damming a river harm its aquatic life?

ANSWERDamming a river alters its natural flow, causing poor sediment flow and excessive sedimentation, which makes stream beds rockier and worsens habitats. Dams also fragment rivers, making it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate, especially for spawning.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Explain the main causes of water scarcity in India.

ANSWERAlthough water is renewable, scarcity in most cases is caused by over-exploitation, excessive use and unequal access among social groups rather than just low rainfall. A large and growing population needs more water for domestic use and for producing more food, so water resources are over-exploited to expand irrigated areas for dry-season agriculture — irrigated agriculture being the largest consumer of water. Farmers digging their own wells and tube-wells lower the groundwater table, threatening food security. Intensive industrialisation and urbanisation add further pressure, as industries are heavy users of water and power, and dense urban populations with their own pumping devices over-exploit groundwater. Finally, even where water is sufficient, pollution by domestic and industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers makes it hazardous, causing scarcity of usable water.

Q2. Why have multi-purpose projects and large dams come under criticism in recent years?

ANSWERIn recent years multi-purpose projects and large dams have faced great scrutiny and opposition. Regulating and damming of rivers affects their natural flow, causing poor sediment flow and excessive sedimentation at the bottom of the reservoir, resulting in rockier stream beds and poorer habitats for aquatic life. Dams fragment rivers, making it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate for spawning, and the reservoirs submerge existing vegetation and soil. Sedimentation deprives the flood plains of fertile silt, adding to land degradation. The projects have induced earthquakes, caused water-borne diseases and pollution, and changed cropping patterns towards water-intensive crops, leading to soil salinisation. Ironically, dams built to control floods have themselves triggered floods through reservoir sedimentation and failed to control floods during excessive rainfall. They have also caused large-scale displacement and inter-state water disputes.

Q3. Describe the ancient and traditional methods of rainwater harvesting practised in different parts of India.

ANSWERIndia has an extraordinary tradition of water harvesting suited to local ecology. In hill and mountainous regions, people built diversion channels called guls or kuls of the Western Himalayas for agriculture. ‘Rooftop rainwater harvesting’ was commonly practised to store drinking water, particularly in Rajasthan. In the flood plains of Bengal, people developed inundation channels to irrigate their fields. In arid and semi-arid regions, agricultural fields were converted into rain-fed storage structures such as the khadins of Jaisalmer and johads in other parts of Rajasthan, allowing water to stand and moisten the soil. In Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer, houses had underground tankas to store drinking water (palar pani). In ancient times, Sringaverapura near Allahabad had a sophisticated water-harvesting system channelling the flood water of the Ganga, and Bhopal Lake was one of the largest artificial lakes of the eleventh century.

MCQs & Assertion–Reason

1. Water is a renewable resource mainly because of the:

(a) ocean currents    (b) hydrological cycle    (c) monsoon winds    (d) groundwater alone

2. According to the chapter, water scarcity in most cases is caused by:

(a) only low rainfall    (b) over-exploitation and excessive use    (c) the hydrological cycle    (d) too much rainfall

3. Which is the largest consumer of water?

(a) Industries    (b) Domestic use    (c) Irrigated agriculture    (d) Hydel power

4. Who called dams the ‘temples of modern India’?

(a) Mahatma Gandhi    (b) Jawaharlal Nehru    (c) Sardar Patel    (d) B. R. Ambedkar

5. The Bhakra-Nangal project lies on which river basin?

(a) Mahanadi    (b) Narmada    (c) Sutluj-Beas    (d) Krishna

6. The Hirakud project integrates conservation of water with flood control in which basin?

(a) Mahanadi    (b) Godavari    (c) Ganga    (d) Damodar

7. The Sardar Sarovar Dam is built over which river?

(a) Tapi    (b) Narmada    (c) Mahi    (d) Sabarmati

8. ‘Guls’ or ‘kuls’ are diversion channels found in the:

(a) Thar Desert    (b) Western Himalayas    (c) Bengal flood plains    (d) Deccan Plateau

9. Underground tanks for storing drinking water in western Rajasthan are called:

(a) johads    (b) khadins    (c) tankas    (d) kuls

10. Which state was the first to make rooftop rainwater harvesting compulsory for all houses?

(a) Rajasthan    (b) Meghalaya    (c) Tamil Nadu    (d) Karnataka

Answer key: 1-(b), 2-(b), 3-(c), 4-(b), 5-(c), 6-(a), 7-(b), 8-(b), 9-(c), 10-(c).

For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.

A-R 1. Assertion: An area may have ample water resources yet still suffer from water scarcity.

Reason: Available water may be polluted by domestic and industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers, making it unfit for use.

A-R 2. Assertion: Dams are now referred to as multi-purpose projects.

Reason: The many uses of the impounded water, such as irrigation, electricity and flood control, are integrated with one another.

A-R 3. Assertion: Large dams have always been completely successful in controlling floods.

Reason: Sedimentation in reservoirs has sometimes caused dams to trigger floods rather than prevent them.

A-R 4. Assertion: Rooftop rainwater harvesting is on the decline in western Rajasthan.

Reason: Plenty of water is now available there due to the perennial Indira Gandhi Canal.

A-R 5. Assertion: Irrigated agriculture has changed the cropping pattern of many regions.

Reason: Farmers have shifted to water-intensive and commercial crops, leading to salinisation of the soil.

Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(A), 3-(D), 4-(A), 5-(A).

Exam Tips & Common Mistakes

How to score full marks in this chapter

Always link water being renewable to the hydrological cycle, and remember that scarcity is caused mostly by over-exploitation and pollution, not just low rainfall. For multi-purpose projects, prepare a balanced two-sided answer (benefits vs. criticisms) and name examples — Bhakra-Nangal (Sutluj-Beas), Hirakud (Mahanadi), Sardar Sarovar (Narmada). For rainwater harvesting, learn the local terms (guls/kuls, khadins, johads, tankas, palar pani) and the case studies of Gendathur, Shillong and Tamil Nadu. Quote schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission, Atal Jal and PMKSY to add value.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Saying water scarcity is caused only by low rainfall — over-exploitation, growing population and pollution are the main causes.
  • Forgetting that a region with ample but polluted water can still face scarcity.
  • Listing only irrigation and electricity as uses of dams — also mention flood control, water supply, navigation and fish breeding.
  • Confusing the river basins — Bhakra-Nangal (Sutluj-Beas), Hirakud (Mahanadi), Sardar Sarovar (Narmada).
  • Mixing up traditional structures — guls/kuls (Himalayas), khadins/johads (Rajasthan fields), tankas (underground drinking-water tanks).
  • In Q1(iii), rewriting statements without first identifying the mistake — state the error, then give the correct version.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Chapter 3 of Class 10 Geography (Contemporary India II) about?

Chapter 3, Water Resources, explains why water scarcity occurs despite water being renewable, how India manages water through multi-purpose river projects and large dams, the criticism such projects face, and how rainwater harvesting — traditional and modern — helps conserve water.

Why does water scarcity occur even though water is a renewable resource?

Water is renewed through the hydrological cycle, but scarcity occurs because of over-exploitation, excessive use, unequal access, a large and growing population, expanding irrigation and industries, and pollution that makes available water unfit for use.

How many exercise questions are there in Class 10 Geography Chapter 3?

The end-of-chapter Exercises have three main questions: Q1 (multiple choice with parts i–iii), Q2 (three questions in about 30 words) and Q3 (two questions in about 120 words). All are answered step by step on this page.

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