Revision summary
Usable freshwater is a small and uneven share of global water. Farms, falling groundwater, climate shifts, and pollution cut availability. Poverty, tanker markets, and transboundary politics cut access. Virtual water in trade moves scarcity from one region to another. SDG 6 will fail unless drinking rights, irrigation reform, and clean rivers are treated as one task.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD N[Uneven freshwater] --> A[Overuse pollution climate] A --> S[Less available water] I[Inequality tanks conflict trade] --> X[Unequal access] S --> C[Water crisis] X --> C
Conclusion
- Price irrigation and urban water so waste falls, while protecting a basic drinking quota for the poor.
- Recharge aquifers, reuse treated wastewater, and share basin data across borders.
- Treat sanitation and pollution control as part of freshwater policy, not as a later add-on.
Freshwater is in crisis because nature’s supply is uneven and because farms, cities, and politics waste or lock what remains. Availability and access must be fixed together through conservation, fair pricing, and clean supply.
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Comment on the resource potentials of the long coastline of India and highlight the status of natural hazard preparedness in these areas.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2023 · Q14). View answer →
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Is the world running out of water in a physical sense?
The planet still has water. The crisis is usable freshwater in the right place, at the right quality, for people who can reach it.
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Why separate availability from access?
A full aquifer does not help a slum without a tap. A pipe does not help if the river is poisoned or dry.
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More from this topic
Q14 · UPSC Mains 2025 · GS I · 15 marks
Give a geographical explanation of the distribution of off-shore oil reserves of the world. How are they different from the on-shore occurrences of oil reserves?
Natural Resources and Industries
Offshore oil lies in sedimentary traps on continental shelves and slopes. Major provinces include the Persian Gulf, North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Brazil’s pre-salt, and India’s Mumbai High and KG basin. The geology is kin to onshore basins; the difference is water depth, platforms and spill behaviour. Onshore fields are usually cheaper to develop and easier for a state to hold physically. Disputed seas turn offshore oil into a geopolitical resource, not only a geological one.
Q14 · UPSC Mains 2023 · GS I · 15 marks
Comment on the resource potentials of the long coastline of India and highlight the status of natural hazard preparedness in these areas.
Natural Resources and Industries
India’s coast and EEZ hold fish, ports, offshore energy, beach minerals, salt, and tourism. Cyclones, the 2004 tsunami, surge, and erosion are the main natural hazards. The Disaster Management Act, 2005, IMD, INCOIS, and cyclone shelters have lowered death counts. CRZ rules and mangrove buffers are unevenly enforced. Ports and fishers need the same map of hazard before the next surge.
Q14 · UPSC Mains 2022 · GS I · 15 marks
What are the forces that influence ocean currents? Describe their role in fishing industry of the world.
Natural Resources and Industries
Surface currents are driven mainly by winds, turned by Coriolis, and steered by coasts. Density differences drive slower deep thermohaline flow; monsoons reverse the north Indian Ocean. Upwelling eastern-boundary currents feed the great anchovy and sardine industries. Warm–cold mixing off Japan and the Grand Banks feeds rich mixed fisheries. El Niño and overfishing show that current wealth is not a guaranteed harvest.
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