Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Similar Purposes: Both traditional systems (kuls, johads, tanks) and modern multi-purpose projects aimed to conserve and manage water for agricultural irrigation and to meet people's water needs. Both involved constructing hydraulic structures to store or direct water, continuing India's ancient tradition of water management.

Critical Difference: The large scale and centralised nature of modern dams caused serious environmental and social problems that local systems avoided. Large dams submerge vast floodplains, displace communities, fragment rivers harming aquatic life, cause sedimentation, and even induce earthquakes. Traditional local systems were small-scale and community-managed, working within local ecological conditions, so their impact was limited and reversible.

Source: Chapter 3 — Multi-purpose River Projects and Rainwater Harvesting

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• Examiners expect one similarity and one critical difference — clearly labelled.
• The similarity is straightforward: both address irrigation/water storage needs.
• The key difference must focus on scale and centralisation causing displacement, ecological damage (sedimentation, aquatic fragmentation, submergence), and social problems — all explicitly mentioned in the passage.
• Do not list multiple differences; the question asks for one critical respect only.
• Keep the answer tight — 3 marks = ~60–90 words.