Water Resources · Class 10 Geography: 225 MCQs with answers

Q1. Which sector does the chapter identify as the largest consumer of water?

Q2. Which of these correctly completes the sentence? Freshwater is mainly obtained from surface run off and ______.

Q3. Explain how water becomes a renewable resource.

Q4. What is water scarcity and what are its main causes?

Q5. A tourist brochure claims a dam's reservoir is used only for boating and fishing. Which two of the seven purposes does this cover?

Q6. Which of these is the odd one out among the ancient hydraulic works named in the chapter?

Q7. Which of these correctly completes the sentence? Multi-purpose projects were launched after Independence with an approach of ______.

Q8. In which basin is the project that combines conservation of water with flood control?

Q9. What is a dam, and what is unusual about how the chapter uses the word?

Q10. Why are dams today called multi-purpose projects?

Q11. Which word does the chapter itself use about dams built for flood control that caused floods?

Q12. Which of these is the odd one out among the effects listed in this section?

Q13. Which of the following correctly completes the sentence? Dams break rivers into pieces, so that water creatures struggle to move upstream, above all to ______.

Q14. How does damming a river affect its sediment, and what follows from that?

Q15. Name the three further effects observed from multi-purpose projects, besides those on sediment and floods.

Q16. Which state would you look in for the dam on the Narmada?

Q17. A revision card reads 'Chambal — Rajasthan'. Which prescribed dam belongs on it?

Q18. Which of these would be an acceptable full answer to 'name the dam on the Mahanadi and its state'?

Q19. Give the states of any four of the prescribed dams.

Q20. How is a map question set and marked, and who may use its written alternative?

Q21. Which state made rooftop rainwater harvesting compulsory for every house, with penalties for those who do not comply?

Q22. A tanka in Phalodi measured 6.1 metres deep. What does this detail illustrate?

Q23. A farmer's tube-well raises his yield for several seasons, after which he must drill deeper each year and his neighbours' wells run dry. Which consequence does the chapter name?

Q24. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Water is described as a renewable resource. Reason (R): All water moves within the hydrological cycle, which continually renews and recharges surface run off and ground water.

Q25. Consider the following statements about the causes of water scarcity. 1. Over-exploitation is named as a cause. 2. Excessive use is named as a cause. 3. Unequal access among different social groups is named as a cause. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q26. A state wants to raise food production without drawing more water. Which two measures does the chapter suggest?

Q27. Which of these is the odd one out among the causes of urban water depletion the chapter names?

Q28. A region has low rainfall and very few people. Under the exercise classification, it is:

Q29. Which set correctly lists three of the seven states under the Atal Bhujal Yojana?

Q30. Which of the following is NOT one of the four reasons the chapter gives for conserving water?

Q31. Two neighbourhoods in one town receive very different water supply, though the town as a whole has enough. Which named cause is this?

Q32. Consider the following statements about the pressure on water after independence. 1. India saw intensive industrialisation and urbanisation. 2. Industries need power, much of which is hydroelectric. 3. Housing societies commonly run their own groundwater pumping devices. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q33. A committee is told that water scarcity is purely a natural misfortune. Which single line from the chapter is the shortest rebuttal?

Q34. Which of these is a correct rewriting of the false exercise statement about urban centres?

Q35. Which of the following best captures the logic of the chapter's opening puzzle?

Q36. Which two of the chapter's four reasons for conserving water are most directly about human health and survival?

Q37. Which statement about the relationship between population and water is closest to the chapter?

Q38. What does the chapter warn will follow from over exploitation and mismanagement of water resources?

Q39. How can a region with ample water resources still suffer from water scarcity?

Q40. Why is irrigated agriculture central to the problem of water scarcity?

Q41. Explain how pollution creates water scarcity.

Q42. State the goals of the Jal Jeevan Mission and the Atal Bhujal Yojana.

Q43. Water is a renewable resource, yet two billion people are expected to face absolute scarcity by 2025. Explain this apparent contradiction.

Q44. A student writes that a dam is the concrete wall across a river. Which line from the chapter corrects this?

Q45. Water flows steadily over a section of a dam even in a dry month. What is this section, and is anything wrong?

Q46. A reservoir in the Sutluj-Beas basin lights a region and waters its fields. Which project is this, and what is integrated?

Q47. A project in the Mahanadi basin stores the monsoon surge so that it neither floods the plain nor runs to waste. Which project and which integration?

Q48. Which of these was NOT among the purposes for which dams are built today?

Q49. Consider the following statements about the Sardar Sarovar project. 1. It is built over the Narmada River in Gujarat. 2. It covers four states. 3. It will irrigate 18.45 lakh hectare in Gujarat. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q50. Which pairing of ancient site and detail is incorrect?

Q51. What do the phrases 'har khet ko pani' and 'per drop more crop' refer to respectively?

Q52. Arrange these hydraulic works in chronological order. 1. The tank at Hauz Khas. 2. Sringaverapura's water harvesting system. 3. Bhopal Lake.

Q53. Which of the following correctly describes the change in what dams are for?

Q54. Consider the following statements about the classification of dams. 1. They may be classified by structure. 2. They may be classified by intended purpose. 3. They may be classified by height. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q55. A river basin project in one state reduces flow to two neighbours. Which example from the chapter matches, and who objects?

Q56. Which set correctly matches a project with the basin it lies in?

Q57. A planner argues that irrigation alone justifies a dam and that the other uses are incidental. How does the chapter's account differ?

Q58. Which of the following is a masonry dam most likely to be contrasted with in the chapter's classification?

Q59. A village in a hilly tract of Maharashtra receives Sardar Sarovar water. How does the chapter say it gets there?

Q60. Give two examples of integration in Indian multi-purpose projects.

Q61. Why did Jawaharlal Nehru describe dams as the temples of modern India?

Q62. Describe the Sardar Sarovar project in brief.

Q63. What are multi-purpose river projects? Explain their purposes with examples, and say why they were given such importance after Independence.

Q64. Consider the following statements about the effects of damming on a river. 1. The natural flow is affected. 2. Sediment flow downstream becomes poor. 3. Sedimentation at the reservoir bottom becomes excessive. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q65. A canal reaches a district and within a few years white crusts appear on the fields. What has happened?

Q66. A student rewrites the false statement as 'Regulating and damming of rivers affects the river's natural flow.' What is still missing?

Q67. Which of these is NOT among the effects observed from multi-purpose projects?

Q68. Three of these are arguments FOR multi-purpose river projects. Which one is not?

Q69. Which of these correctly pairs a purpose of a dam with the disadvantage that reverses it?

Q70. Consider the following statements. 1. Big dams have largely failed to hold floods back when the rain comes down hardest. 2. Such floods devastated life and property. 3. Such floods caused extensive soil erosion. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q71. Which effect of multi-purpose projects has nothing to do with water supply at all?

Q72. Which pairing of effect and location is correct?

Q73. Which set correctly groups three disadvantages that concern the river itself?

Q74. Which of these describes what happens to submerged vegetation over time?

Q75. Which two words in this section indicate that the chapter is reporting evidence rather than predicting?

Q76. Why does the chapter call the effect of dams on floods ironic?

Q77. Explain how a dam reduces the fertility of land downstream.

Q78. How has irrigation from these projects harmed the soil?

Q79. Why have multi-purpose projects and large dams come under scrutiny? Explain the main objections.

Q80. An outline map shows the Chenab. Which prescribed dam would you mark on it?

Q81. A question asks for a dam in the Sutluj-Beas basin that serves both power and irrigation. Which is it, and on which river?

Q82. Which set correctly pairs three dams with their rivers?

Q83. A candidate marks Hirakud in the far south of the peninsula. What is wrong?

Q84. A student finds the outline map difficult and plans to answer the written alternative instead. What should they be told?

Q85. Consider the following statements. 1. Nagarjuna Sagar stands on the Krishna. 2. Tungabhadra stands in Karnataka. 3. Both appear only as labels on the chapter's map. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q86. A question asks for a dam that integrates conservation of water with flood control. Which is it, and where is it?

Q87. Which of these dams is NOT on the prescribed map list for this chapter?

Q88. A candidate labels the right dot but writes the label untidily and slightly crooked. How is this marked?

Q89. Which pairing of dam and state is incorrect?

Q90. A candidate decides to start at the top of the outline map and label the eight dams downward as they go. Which should they label first?

Q91. Consider the following statements about map questions in the board paper. 1. Marks are for locating the feature correctly. 2. A written alternative is printed with each map question. 3. That written alternative is meant only for visually impaired candidates. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q92. Which two dams stand in the peninsular south among the prescribed eight?

Q93. Which river would you trace to find Nagarjuna Sagar?

Q94. Which dam would a question about the upper Ganga basin be pointing to?

Q95. A map question asks you to locate the dam that supplies four states. Which is it?

Q96. A candidate writes 'Nagarjun Sagar' instead of 'Nagarjuna Sagar'. What happens?

Q97. Name the eight dams prescribed for map work in this chapter, with the rivers they stand on.

Q98. Why is it better to learn each dam with its river than to memorise its position?

Q99. Set out the map work for this chapter: the dams prescribed, the rivers and states they belong to, and how they are arranged across the country.

Q100. A village in the Western Himalayas needs to bring stream water across a slope to its fields. Which traditional method fits?

Q101. A district converts its fields so that rainwater stands on them and soaks into the soil. Which pair of traditional structures is this?

Q102. Consider the following statements about tankas. 1. They were built inside the main house or the courtyard. 2. They were connected to sloping roofs through a pipe. 3. Water could be stored in them until the next rainfall. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q103. A student writes that Shillong receives the highest rainfall in the world. What is the correction?

Q104. Which two materials are used to filter rooftop water in the modern system?

Q105. What moves the water in the Meghalaya bamboo system?

Q106. A pipe in the bamboo system has to cross a road. What is done?

Q107. Which of these correctly pairs a region with its traditional method?

Q108. A household still uses its tanka although canal water reaches the house. What reason does the chapter give?

Q109. Which figures belong to Gendathur?

Q110. A city stands on a large perennial river yet rations water to its outer wards every summer. Which explanation fits the chapter best?

Q111. Two districts receive the same heavy rainfall. In one, every stream is fouled by factory effluent and farm chemicals. How should each be classified?

Q112. A planner argues that scarcity in India would end if rainfall improved. Which statement from the chapter most directly challenges this?

Q113. Why does the chapter say industries place a double pressure on water?

Q114. Which of these best explains what the Jal Jeevan Mission promises beyond a tap connection?

Q115. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): The Atal Bhujal Yojana concentrates on seven states rather than the whole country. Reason (R): Those states between them account for barely three per cent of India's water-stressed blocks.

Q116. A scheme spends entirely on pipes and pumps and nothing on persuading people to use less. Which aim of Atal Jal does it miss?

Q117. A region has high annual rainfall and a very large population. How does the exercise classify it, and why?

Q118. Which statement most accurately describes what the chapter means by over-exploitation?

Q119. Why is the phrase 'that can be put to use' important in the chapter's first sentence about freshwater?

Q120. Which of these would the chapter count as evidence that scarcity can be created by a city itself?

Q121. Which pairing of scheme and detail is incorrect?

Q122. A student writes that scarcity means there is not enough water in a place. What is the better definition from this chapter?

Q123. Why does the chapter link falling groundwater levels to food security rather than only to drinking water?

Q124. An official proposes meeting a district's rising demand purely by sinking more borewells. What does this topic suggest will follow?

Q125. A region is described as having 'over-exploited, critical and semi-critical' blocks. What is this classifying?

Q126. Why does the chapter mention women carrying matkas long distances only to move past the image?

Q127. A district reports adequate rainfall, adequate groundwater and adequate river flow, but half its households still fetch water from a distance. Which cause is most likely?

Q128. 'Scarcity is not the same as shortage of rain.' Justify this statement with examples from the chapter.

Q129. Why does the chapter say the need of the hour is to conserve and manage water? Explain the reasons and the schemes that follow from them.

Q130. An engineer describes a very large dam built solely to supply drinking water to one city. Is it a multi-purpose project?

Q131. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Modern India did not invent the practice of damming rivers. Reason (R): Sophisticated hydraulic structures were built here from ancient times, including at Sringaverapura, Bhopal Lake and Hauz Khas.

Q132. A speech quotes Nehru's phrase about temples of modern India but gives no reason for it. Which reason should be added?

Q133. Why does the chapter mention that the entire Sardar Sarovar command area in Rajasthan is drought prone?

Q134. Maharashtra plans to divert more water at Koyna; Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh object. What kind of problem is this, and why does it arise?

Q135. A district wants assured irrigation but cannot build a dam. Which scheme in this chapter is designed for that situation?

Q136. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): A dam holds back every drop of water that reaches it. Reason (R): Most dams include a spillway or weir through which water is intended to flow.

Q137. Which statement best explains why multi-purpose projects carried political as well as engineering hopes?

Q138. A state proposes a dam and argues that the water will serve farms, factories, homes and boats at once. Which idea from the chapter is it invoking?

Q139. Why does the chapter open the section on conserving water with archaeological records rather than with modern projects?

Q140. Which two objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana concern how water is used rather than whether it arrives?

Q141. Which of these best explains why a multi-purpose project is harder to design than a single-purpose dam?

Q142. Which of these figures belongs to the Sardar Sarovar project's Rajasthan command?

Q143. Why does the chapter describe the Krishna-Godavari objection as concerning 'downstream flow'?

Q144. A question asks what dams do that traditional irrigation works did not. Which answer fits the chapter?

Q145. Which statement best captures the difference in scale between a multi-purpose project and the Krishi Sinchayee Yojana?

Q146. State the broad objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana.

Q147. 'Dam building in India continues an ancient tradition rather than beginning one.' Discuss with evidence from the chapter.

Q148. Explain how the chapter's approach to assured irrigation has changed in scale, from the river basin to the field.

Q149. A fish species that breeds far upstream disappears within a decade of a barrage being built downstream of its breeding ground. Which effect does this illustrate?

Q150. A reservoir built forty years ago now holds noticeably less water each monsoon, and the plain below floods more often than before. What connects the two?

Q151. Farmers below a dam find they must now buy fertiliser their parents never used. Which effect explains this?

Q152. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): A dam built for flood control may make flooding worse over time. Reason (R): Sedimentation in the reservoir reduces the volume available to absorb a surge.

Q153. Which disadvantage in this section works through a benefit rather than through a failure?

Q154. Why does the chapter describe the stream bed below a dam as rockier?

Q155. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Building a reservoir on a flood plain damages soil even where no flood occurs. Reason (R): The reservoir dries out the vegetation and soil beneath it, which then hardens into rock.

Q156. A committee claims that a dam's only cost is the land it covers. Which two effects from this section would you cite against the claim?

Q157. A district downstream of a large dam reports both worse floods and poorer soil. Which single cause connects them?

Q158. Which of the following best explains why farmers shift to water intensive and commercial crops after irrigation arrives?

Q159. An answer to 'compare advantages and disadvantages' lists seven benefits and then says only that dams displace people. What is the main weakness?

Q160. Which of the following would the chapter count as damage occurring above the dam rather than below it?

Q161. A river below a dam supports fewer species than before, although no pollution is detected. What does this section suggest?

Q162. A state argues that a dam is worthwhile because it has never burst. How does the chapter's account complicate the reasoning?

Q163. Why is 'silt, a natural fertiliser' a phrase worth quoting in an answer?

Q164. A report says a dam has succeeded because its canals are full and its turbines are running. Which further test does this section imply?

Q165. Which two effects together explain why a flood below a dam can be more damaging than one before the dam existed?

Q166. A question asks for disadvantages of multi-purpose projects for four marks. Which selection is strongest?

Q167. Why does the chapter place this section immediately after the case for multi-purpose projects?

Q168. A student asks whether displacement can be used as a disadvantage when the section does not describe it. What is the best guidance?

Q169. Which effect would remain even if a dam never released a single flood?

Q170. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of multi-purpose river projects.

Q171. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of multi-purpose river projects.

Q172. 'Most of the damage a dam does is done while it is working perfectly.' Examine this claim using the chapter.

Q173. A student has read every sentence of this chapter and never opened the map. How many of the eight prescribed dams can they name from the text alone?

Q174. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): It is easier to locate a dam by first finding its river. Reason (R): The map work for this chapter asks for dams to be located and labelled.

Q175. Three dams stand close together on the Chambal. Which of them is on the prescribed list?

Q176. For one of the eight dams, remembering the river hands you the dam's name for free. Which one, and why does that help?

Q177. Arrange these four dams from north to south. 1. Sardar Sarovar. 2. Salal. 3. Tungabhadra. 4. Tehri.

Q178. Which dam on the map is connected to an inter-state dispute described in the chapter?

Q179. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Studying this chapter's text alone leaves a student unable to answer most of its map questions. Reason (R): Five of the eight prescribed dams are never named in the chapter's sentences.

Q180. A place name in this topic also appears in the Forest and Wildlife chapter. Which is it, and why?

Q181. Which of these best explains why the map shows more dams than the syllabus asks for?

Q182. Why is it worth noticing that the syllabus writes 'Hirakund' while the textbook writes 'Hirakud'?

Q183. A student can place Bhakra Nangal but not Tehri. What is the most useful relationship to remember?

Q184. Which group of dams on the map lies in the Damodar basin?

Q185. Which statement best describes the relationship between this chapter's map and its text?

Q186. A revision hint reads: 'the only prescribed dam lying north of Bhakra Nangal'. Which dam does it point to?

Q187. Why does this topic group the eight dams by region rather than listing them alphabetically?

Q188. Which pair of dams could both be reached by tracing rivers that rise in the Himalayas?

Q189. Which of the prescribed dams are named in the chapter's text, and which are not?

Q190. Which dams shown on the chapter's map are not on the prescribed list, and why are they still worth knowing?

Q191. Explain how you would prepare for and answer the map questions on this chapter.

Q192. Several places on this map connect to other parts of the Social Science course. Identify these links and explain them.

Q193. A family in Barmer lets the first shower of the monsoon run off the roof and only then opens the pipe to the tank. Why?

Q194. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Shillong relies heavily on rooftop rainwater harvesting. Reason (R): The city lies in a desert belt where rainfall is among the lowest in the world.

Q195. A canal brings year-round water to a desert district, and within a generation its households stop maintaining their rainwater tanks. Which case does this describe?

Q196. Which statement best explains why a single traditional method for all of India was never likely?

Q197. In the modern rooftop system, what happens to water that exceeds what the sump can hold?

Q198. Read the Assertion and Reason and choose the correct option. Assertion (A): The bamboo drip irrigation system delivers water in drops rather than in a flow. Reason (R): Reduced channel sections at the last stage bring 18 to 20 litres down to 20 to 80 drops per minute at the plant.

Q199. Why does the chapter present rainwater harvesting immediately after the objections to large dams?

Q200. Which of these is NOT a reason the chapter gives for the reliability of tanka water?