Q1. [1] medium exam-ready
Assertion (A): Even a region that receives high annual rainfall can suffer from water scarcity.
Reason (R): Water scarcity can arise from poor water quality due to pollution by domestic wastes, industrial effluents, pesticides and fertilisers.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true but R is false.
(D) A is false but R is true.
- A Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
- B Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
- C A is true but R is false.
- D A is false but R is true.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:31 · grounding rag
Model Answer
(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Assertion (A) is true — a high-rainfall region can still face water scarcity due to large population, over-exploitation, or unequal access. Reason (R) is also true — pollution makes water hazardous and unusable. However, R describes only one specific cause of scarcity and does not fully explain why high-rainfall regions particularly suffer, making R not the correct explanation of A.
Source: Water Resources, Chapter 3 — Water Scarcity and the Need for Water Conservation and Management
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Explanation
- Assertion (A) is supported by the text: cities with ample water still face scarcity due to overexploitation, large population, and unequal access — not just low rainfall.
- Reason (R) is also true: the textbook explicitly states water can be polluted by "domestic and industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers."
- However, R explains only the quality-based scarcity scenario, not the general reason why high-rainfall areas face scarcity (which is mainly over-exploitation and population pressure). So R is true but not the correct explanation of A → Answer is (B).