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Some 46 to 58 thousand square miles of 5. Degradation by Industrial Effluents :
forest are lost each year due to deforesta- Indiscriminate discharge of effluents causes
tion. land degradation and makes the land unfit
3. Overgrazing : Overgrazing refers to what for cultivation.
happens when livestock feeds on pasture to 6. Degradation by Water Logging : In the
the point where there is no vegetation left. states of Punjab, Haryana, and western UP,
When animals deplete the fully-grown both salinity and alkalinity are increasing
wildlife, they move onto underdeveloped due to water logging caused by excessive
plants without giving them enough time to irrigation.
fully mature. This can also happen in the
wild when a particular group of animals has
their natural travel patterns restricted.
Logging
7. Degradation by Industrial Dust : Fly
ash from thermal power plants and dust
Overgrazing
generated by cement and ceramic industries
Overgrazing can have devastating environ- are also main causes of land degradation.
mental implications. When we combine it Conservation and Reclamation of
with other hazards like overpopulation and Degraded Land
urbanisation, it can spell the end of sustain-
Some of the measures that can be used or
able life on the earth.
practised to conserve our land resource are :
In the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya
1. Adopting to the scientific techniques.
Pradesh and Maharashtra, overgrazing is
2. Land reclamation.
the major cause of land degradation.
3. Regulated use of chemical fertilizers, insecti-
4. Degradation by Mining and Quarrying :
cides and pesticides.
More than 5500 mines and quarries are
4. Afforestation.
operating in India. The dumping of mineral
wastes and abandoned mines are degrading 5. Check on overgrazing.
and defacing the land. Mineral rich states 6. Control of mining activities.
like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya 7. Proper irrigation facilities.
Pradesh and Odisha are facing the acute 8. Constructing retention walls in the mountain
problem of land degradation due to mining areas to stop landslides.
activities.
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