Explain causes for land degradation.

(a) At present there is about 130 million hectares of degraded land in India as mentioned below:
(i) Forest’ degraded area – 28%
(ii) Water eroded area – 56%
(iii) Wind eroded area – 10%
(iv) Saline and Alkaline land – 6%
(b) Following factors/human factors are responsible for land degradation in India:
(l) Mining: Mining sites are abandoned after excavation work is complete leaving deep scars and traces of over burdening. In states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and
Orissa deforestation due to mining have caused severe land degradation.
(ii) Overgrazing: In states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra overgrazing is the main reason for land degradation.
(iii) Over-irrigation: In the states of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, over irrigation is responsible for land degradation due to water logging leading to increase in salinity and alkalinity in the soil.
(iv) The mineral processing like grinding of limestone for cement industry generate dust in the atmosphere. It retards the process of infiltration of water into soil after it settles down on the land. Thus industrial effluents as waste have become a major source of land and water pollution in many parts of the country.