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General Studies 2023 GS Paper I 10 marks 150 words Compulsory Explain

GS Paper I — Q5

Why is the world today confronted with a crisis of availability of and access to freshwater resources? (Answer in 150 words) 10

हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें

आज विश्व ताजे जल के संसाधनों की उपलब्धता और पहुंच के संकट से क्यों जूझ रहा है? (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए)

Q5 of the 2023 UPSC Mains General Studies GS Paper I, as printed
The question as printed in the 2023 General Studies paper
Evaluate your answer to this question → See all 2023 General Studies questions

Model answer

Written by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key.

Only 2.5% of global water is freshwater, with nearly 68% locked in glaciers. The contemporary freshwater crisis stems from intertwined drivers of availability and access:

Crisis of Availability: Rapid population growth, urbanisation, and water-intensive farming have created severe demand-supply mismatches, driving unsustainable aquifer depletion in regions like India's Punjab-Haryana plains and the Ogallala aquifer. Concurrently, untreated sewage, industrial effluents, and agrochemical runoff degrade existing reserves into unusable toxic sinks. Anthropogenic climate change exacerbates this by disrupting monsoonal patterns, accelerating Himalayan glacial melt, and intensifying recurrent droughts and floods.

Crisis of Access: Physical presence does not guarantee availability due to weak delivery infrastructure across the Global South and market-driven privatisation that prices out vulnerable populations. Furthermore, geopolitical tensions and hydro-hegemony across transboundary basins (Indus, Nile, Mekong) restrict equitable downstream sharing.

These challenges are compounded by fragmented governance and inadequate Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Mitigating this crisis necessitates demand-side groundwater management, circular wastewater recycling, and cooperative hydro-diplomacy to achieve SDG 6.

What "Explain" is asking you to do

Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.

Structure that answers it

State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces

Where marks are lost

Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.

All UPSC directive words, compared →

How this answer will be evaluated

Approach

Framework: GS1 Geography/Society. explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Clear distinction between physical scarcity and access barriers; robust data; mechanism explained.

Key points expected

  • Distinguish between 'availability' (physical scarcity) and 'access' (economic/political).
  • Explain the mechanism of climate change (shifting monsoons, glacial melt).
  • Link physical geography to human outcome (groundwater depletion, pollution).
  • Address the 'access' gap (infrastructure deficit, inequality).

Evaluation rubric

Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.

  1. The answer Explain the causes of the global freshwater crisis regarding availability and access. 10 marks · 150 words

    explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close

    Must cover

    • Distinguish between 'availability' (physical scarcity) and 'access' (economic/political).
    • Explain the mechanism of climate change (shifting monsoons, glacial melt).
    • Link physical geography to human outcome (groundwater depletion, pollution).
    • Address the 'access' gap (infrastructure deficit, inequality).

    Loses marks

    • Narrating chronology of water history without causal analysis.
    • Using emotive words instead of explaining the mechanism.
    • Confusing 'scarcity' with 'poverty' without explaining the link.

    Earns more

    • Mention specific data (e.g., % of population without safe water).
    • Reference specific stress points (e.g., Aral Sea, Ganges basin).
    • Discuss the impact of industrial/agricultural demand on supply.

    Extra mark

    • 30-second sketch map showing major water-stressed regions.
    • Cite a specific report (e.g., UN-Water, WRI Aqueduct).

Practice this exact question

Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.

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