Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

In Punjab and Haryana, over-irrigation raises the water table, leading to waterlogging, which increases salinity and alkalinity in the soil. In Jharkhand and Odisha, mining causes deforestation and leaves deep scars and overburdened land.

The common underlying reason is that both activities permanently alter the soil's physical and chemical properties. Waterlogged, saline soil loses fertility, while excavated, scarred land loses its topsoil and structure. In both cases, the land becomes infertile and unfit for cultivation, demonstrating that different human activities can cause the same outcome — irreversible land degradation.

Source: Resources and Development, Land Degradation and Conservation Measures

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• The examiner wants you to identify the common thread: both human activities destroy the soil's ability to support crops, just through different mechanisms.
• Key terms to use: waterlogging, salinity, alkalinity (Punjab/Haryana) and deep scars, overburdening, deforestation (Jharkhand/Odisha).
• The "common reason" answer earns the decisive mark — don't just describe the two situations separately; explicitly link them to the shared outcome of loss of soil fertility/structure making cultivation impossible.