CBSE Class 10 Social Science 2026: question 18
Set in the CBSE Class 10 board exam of 2026, paper 32/5/1, section B, question 18, for 4 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.
Q18 · 4 marks · Case-basedCompetency-basedWater Resources
Read the given source carefully and answer the questions that follow :
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana
Floods have not only devastated life and property but also caused extensive soil erosion. Sedimentation also meant that the flood plains were deprived of silt, a natural fertilizer, further adding on to the problem of land degradation. It was also observed that the multipurpose projects induced earthquakes, caused water-borne diseases and pests and pollution resulting from excessive use of water.
Irrigation has also changed the cropping pattern of many regions with farmers shifting to water intensive and commercial crops. This has great ecological consequences like salinisation of the soil.
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana has been started which ensures access to some means to protective irrigation for all agricultural farms in the country, thus bringing much desired rural prosperity. Some of the broad objectives of this programme are to enhance the physical access of water on the farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation (har khet ko pani), improve on farm water, use efficiency to reduce wastage and increase availability both in duration and extent, irrigation and other water saving technologies (per drop more crop) and introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc.
- (18.1)1 mark
Explain the role of floods in land degradation.
- (18.2)1 mark
How has irrigation changed cropping pattern ?
- (18.3)2 marks
Explain any two objectives of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’.
Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2026 board paper, set 32/5/1.
Hints
Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.
Hint 1
Read the first paragraph for the effects of floods.
Hint 2
The passage names the scheme's objectives in its last paragraph.
Step-by-step solution
Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.
- 1 mark
(18.1) Floods cause extensive soil erosion. Sediment collects in dam reservoirs, so the natural fertilizer, silt, does not reach the flood plains, which adds to land degradation.
- 1 mark
(18.2) Farmers have shifted to water-intensive and commercial crops.
- 1 mark
(18.3) One objective is to enhance the physical access of water on the farm and expand the cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet Ko Pani).
- 1 mark
Another is to improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage, and to adopt water-saving technologies (per drop more crop) and sustainable water conservation practices.
Answer: (18.1) Floods erode soil and deprive flood plains of silt. (18.2) Farmers shifted to water-intensive and commercial crops. (18.3) Har Khet Ko Pani and per drop more crop.
Where the marks are
- Soil erosion and loss of silt (1 mark)
- Shift to water-intensive and commercial crops (1 mark)
- First objective of the scheme (1 mark)
- Second objective of the scheme (1 mark)
Revise the chapter
- Chapter: Water Resources (notes, formulas, where marks are lost and every past question)
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