UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 7)

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UPSC Essentials brings to you its new initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. Mains Answer Writing will cover essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains.

We will cover one new subject four days in a week. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-3 to check your progress.

QUESTION 1

What do you understand by urban floods and how they are different from flash floods? Discuss the strategies to tackle urban flooding.

QUESTION 2

Discuss the role and contribution of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in rural and agricultural development.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.

— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.

Way forward/ Conclusion

— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.

— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.

Self Evaluation

— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.

THOUGHT PROCESS

You may enrich your answers by some of the following points

QUESTION 1: What do you understand by urban floods and how they are different from flash floods? Discuss the strategies to tackle urban flooding.

Introduction:

A simple introduction to this answer can revolve around a general statement about floods and urban floods.

— Floods can be defined as ‘the submergence of the usually dry area by a large amount of water that comes from sudden excessive rainfall, an overflowing river or lake, melting snow or an exceptionally high tide’.

— People living in susceptible locations suffer as a result of flooding, which can sometimes end in fatalities. Not only does flooding occur, but the secondary consequence of infection also has a cost in terms of human misery, loss of livelihood, and, in extreme circumstances, loss of life.

— Urban flooding is significantly different from rural flooding as urbanization leads to developed catchments which increases the flood peaks from 1.8 to 8 times and flood volumes by up to six times.

— For example, Bellandur-Varthur wetland ecosystem located in Bengaluru has been experiencing threat due to the large scale catchment alterations with changes in the land use, land cover. This wetland is now being converted for mixed land use to build both residential and office complexes.

— There has been an increasing trend of urban flood disasters in India over the past several years whereby major cities in India have been severely affected like in Hyderabad in 2000, Ahmedabad in 2001, Delhi in 2002 and 2003, Chennai in 2004, Mumbai in 2005, Srinagar in 2014 and Chennai in 2015.

(Source: ndma.gov.in, Bengaluru floods: How lake catchment alterations upped urban flooding risk in the city by Aksheev Thakur)

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

What are flash floods?

— In India, flash floods are often associated with cloudbursts – sudden, intense rainfall in a short period of time. Himalayan states further face the challenge of overflowing glacial lakes, formed due to the melting of glaciers, and their numbers have been increasing in the last few years.

— They can occur in urban areas located near small rivers since hard surfaces such as roads and concrete do not allow the water to absorb into the ground.

(Source: Explained: What are flash floods and why they may increase in the next few years)

Strategies to Tackle Urban Flooding

 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

— The SOP lays down, in a comprehensive manner, the specific actions required to be undertaken by various departments and agencies in a city/town and also organizations under the district administration as well as State Government for responding to urban flooding/disaster of any magnitude.

— It covers the following three phases of disaster management for effective and efficient response to urban flooding:

(i) Pre-Monsoon Phase: Preparedness – Planning for Disaster Reduction.

Improving drainage system in the cities, declog existing networks, adopt better solid waste management practices, and regulate new construction in low-lying areas.

(ii) During Monsoon Phase: Early Warning System, Effective Response and Management and Relief planning and execution.

The initiative to develop early warning systems will tell civic authorities which areas are likely to be inundated, by how much, and for how long for a particular rainfall forecast.

Accurate local information from the India Meteorological Department, Central Water Commission and relevant agencies needs to be passed on to civic authorities in real time.

(iii) Post-Monsoon Phase: Restoration and Rehabilitation.

Note: You can also cite an example of the Chennai pilot project which has been implemented after the Chennai floods of 2015.

(Source: Strategies to tackle urban flooding: On the table, plans to develop alerts, improve drainage by Amitabh Sinha, mohua.gov.in)

Conclusion:

Your concluding remark should be short. You may use some of the following points.

— Most of these lakes and drains in this series are either encroached or not desilted leading to flooding.

— In order to check the threat of urban flooding, each city should have their Flood mitigation plans (floodplain, river basin, surface water, etc.) strongly embedded within the overall land use policy and master planning of a city.

Points to Ponder

Difference between floods and flash floods.

Impacts of Floods in the Himalayas

The drainage system of India

Related Previous Year Questions

The frequency of urban floods due to high intensity rainfall is increasing over the years. Discussing the reasons for urban floods, highlight the mechanisms for preparedness to reduce the risk during such events. (2016)

With reference to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines, discuss the measures to be adopted to mitigate the impact of recent incidents of cloudbursts in many places of Uttarakhand. (2016)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the role and contribution of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in rural and agricultural development.

Introduction:

A simple introduction to this answer can revolve around a general statement about Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.

— Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) are village-level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.

— The credit from the Scheduled Commercial Banks is transferred to the district central cooperative banks, or District Co-operative Central Banks (DCCBs), that operate at the district level. The DCCBs work with PACS, which deals directly with farmers.

(Source: Union Budget announces Rs 2,516 crore for computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies: What are PACs? by Parthasarathi Biswas)

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

Role and contribution of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies

— They are involved in short-term lending — or what is known as crop loans. At the start of the cropping cycle, farmers avail credit to finance their requirement of seeds, fertilisers, etc.

— Banks extend this credit at 7 per cent interest, of which 3 per cent is subsidised by the Centre, and 2 per cent by the state government. Effectively, farmers avail the crop loans at 2 per cent interest only.

— Since these are cooperative bodies, individual farmers are members of the PACS, and office-bearers are elected from within them. A village can have multiple PACS.

— The attraction of the PACS lies in the last mile connectivity they offer. For farmers, timely access to capital is necessary at the start of their agricultural activities.

— PACS have the capacity to extend credit with minimal paperwork within a short time.

— PACS can also be employed as drone entrepreneurs for spraying fertilisers and pesticides.

— A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of this effect was signed between the Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NABARD and CSC e-Governance Services India Limited for providing services offered by Common Service Centres (CSC).

— PACS are the soul of cooperatives and will increase employment opportunities in rural areas.

— It will ensure speedy disposal of loans, lower transition cost, faster audit and reduction in imbalances in payments and accounting with State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks.

(Source: cooperation.gov.in, PACS to offer services of Common Service Centres; Cooperation ministry signs MoU, Govt to utilise PACS as ‘drone entrepreneurs’ for spraying fertilisers)

Conclusion:

Your concluding remark should be short.

— The Union Budget has announced Rs 2,516 crore for computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) over the next five years, with the aim of bringing greater transparency and accountability in their operations and enabling them to diversify their business and undertake more activities.

— It is a win-win” situation for all as it will strengthen both cooperatives and farmers.

Points to Ponder

Limitations of PACS

Post your inputs and answers to points to ponder in the comment box below and engage with other aspirants too. All the best!

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