निम्नलिखित में से कौन-सा एक व्यावहारिक, तर्कसंगत और टिकाऊ समाधान को सर्वोत्तम रूप से प्रतिबिम्बित करता है?
Read this question in English
Which one of the following best reflects the practical, rational and lasting solution?
(a) Constructing huge concrete storage tanks and canals across the country · (b) Changing the cropping patterns and farming practices · (c) Interlinking of rivers across the country · (d) Buffer stocking of water through dams and recharging aquifers
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (d) बाँधों और जलभरों के जरिए जल का सुरक्षित भण्डार (बफर) रखना
The problem is one of timing: about 75% of the rain falls in 120 days and too little in the other 245. The lasting fix is to store the monsoon water — in dams and in recharged aquifers — and use it through the year.
- ✗ (a) Huge concrete tanks and canals across the country are neither practical nor lasting at that scale, and canals move water rather than store it.
- ✗ (b) Changing cropping patterns adjusts demand; it does not manage the skewed availability the passage describes.
- ✗ (c) Interlinking rivers moves water from place to place; the passage’s problem is uneven supply over the year.
- ✓ (d) Buffer stocks in dams and recharged aquifers capture the ‘too much’ of June–September and release it in the ‘too little’ months — exactly the managed, year-round use the passage asks for.
Remember · Match the solution to the exact problem: uneven supply over time needs storage, not transfer or demand changes.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·