Use of natural resources:

you studied about various natural resources such as land, water, soil, minerals etc. You know that these resources are limited and precious. Therefore,  they should be used more efficiently. We will now discuss how various resources are being currently used in our country. Land Land is the most precious resource, because its produce supports human population and other living beings on land. Nearly 44% of  land in India is used for agricultural purposes, of which  11-14%  is covered with forests  that include good as well as degraded forests, and 4% of the land is used as pastures and grazing fields. The remaining 8% is used for various other purposes such as housing, agroforestry,  establishment of industries, development  of roads and reservoirs etc.. About 14% of our land is barren i.e. it cannot be used for the cultivation of crops. Nearly 113 of the barren land has lost its productivity due to alkalinity or salinity of the soil, and water logging etc. Soil erosion causes a great harm to productivity of our land, because in this process soil is broken up and washed away by water or swept away by wind. These facts indicate careless and unwise use of  land and is a reflection of  the mismanagement of our land resources. Today, nearly 24% of our population lives in urban areas. The rapid increase of urbanisation and migration of population from rural to urban areas lead to two serious consequences. Migration of people to towns increases their population and expands  their size, thus necessitating conversion of agricultural  land to housing, office and factory buildings,  roads and bridges etc. Rural land, on the other hand, may remain underutilised. The conditions of life  in the cities often deteriorate due to increased population. Sewage  and water supply come under strain; more vehicles cause more pollution; or the poor end up in unhygienic slums. Migration can be checked only if  the living conditions  in the villages are improved. Particularly transport and communication, health care, education,  and other basic amenities like clean water and good sewage disposal should be provided in rural areas. Setting up of rural industries can lead to employment  of growing numbers, so  fewer people would  leave their villages  for urban areas.