GS Paper IV — Q11
With the summer heat being exceptionally severe this year, the district has been facing severe water shortage. The District…
With the summer heat being exceptionally severe this year, the district has been facing severe water shortage. The District Collector has been mobilizing his subordinate officials to conserve the remaining water reserves for preventing the district from plunging into acute drinking water crisis. Along with an awareness campaign for conserving water, strict measures have been taken for stopping the over-exploitation of ground-water. Vigilance teams have been deployed to tour the villages and find the farmers who are drawing water from deep borewells or from the river reservoir for irrigation. The farmers are agitated by such action. A delegation of farmers meets the District Collector with their issues and complains that while they are not being allowed to irrigate their crops, big industries located near the river are drawing huge amounts of water through deep borewells for their industrial processes. The farmers allege that their administration is anti-farmer and corrupt, being bribed by the industry. The district needs to placate the farmers as they are threatening to go on a prolonged protest. At the same time, the District Collector has to deal with the water crisis. The industry cannot be closed as this would result in a large number of workers being unemployed.
Discuss all options available to the District Collector as a District Magistrate.
What suitable actions can be taken in view of mutually compatible interests of the stakeholders ?
What are the potential administrative and ethical dilemmas for the District Collector ?
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
इस वर्ष असाधारण रूप से भीषण गर्मी होने के कारण, जिले को पानी की घोर कमी का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। जिला कलेक्टर जिले को गंभीर पेयजल संकट से उबारने हेतु शेष जल भंडार को संरक्षित करने के लिए अपने अधीनस्थ अधिकारियों को सक्रिय कर रहे हैं। जल संरक्षण के लिए जागरूकता अभियान के साथ-साथ भू-जल के अत्यधिक दोहन को रोकने के लिए सख्त कदम उठाए गए हैं। गाँवों का दौरा करने हेतु सतर्कता दल तैनात किए गए हैं। सिंचाई के लिए गहरे बोरवेल अथवा नदी जलाशय से पानी खींचने वाले किसानों की शिनाख्त की जा रही है। ऐसी कार्रवाई से किसान आक्रोश में आ जाते हैं। किसानों का एक प्रतिनिधिमंडल अपने मुद्दों को लेकर जिला कलेक्टर से मिलता है और शिकायत करता है कि जहाँ उन्हें अपनी फसल की सिंचाई की अनुमति नहीं दी जा रही है, वहीं नदी के पास स्थित बड़े उद्योग अपनी औद्योगिक प्रक्रियाओं के लिए गहरे बोरवेल के माध्यम से भारी मात्रा में पानी खींच रहे हैं। किसानों का आरोप है कि उनका प्रशासन किसान विरोधी और भ्रष्ट है, जिसे उद्योग द्वारा रिश्वत दी जा रही है। जिलों को, किसानों को शांत करने की ज़रूरत है क्योंकि वे लंबे समय तक विरोध प्रदर्शन करने की धमकी दे रहे हैं। वहीं जिला कलेक्टर को जल संकट से निपटना भी होगा। उद्योग को बंद नहीं किया जा सकता क्योंकि इससे बड़ी संख्या में श्रमिक बेरोज़गार हो जाएँगे।
एक जिला मजिस्ट्रेट के रूप में जिला कलेक्टर के लिए उपलब्ध सभी विकल्पों पर चर्चा कीजिए।
हितधारकों के परस्पर अनुकूल हितों को ध्यान में रखते हुए कौन-सी उचित कार्रवाइयाँ की जा सकती हैं ?
जिला कलेक्टर के लिए संभावित प्रशासनिक और नैतिक दुविधाएँ क्या हैं ?
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 250-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
(a) Options available to the District Magistrate
Legally, the DM can invoke the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to regulate scarce supplies, issue orders under Section 163 BNSS (erstwhile Section 144 CrPC) to prevent law-and-order breakdown, address environmental nuisance under Section 152 BNSS (erstwhile Section 133 CrPC), prioritise drinking water in allocation orders, and enforce Section 223 BNS (erstwhile Section 188 IPC) for non-compliance. Administratively, the DM can seal unauthorized borewells under Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) guidelines, impose differential water pricing and quota rationing, and institute a multi-stakeholder District Water Committee for negotiated settlements.
(b) Mutually Compatible Stakeholder Solutions
To balance livelihoods and industry, the administration can mandate industrial operations to switch to recycled wastewater and staggered production shifts, reducing freshwater extraction. Conducting a transparent, publicly disclosed water audit will clear corruption perceptions. For farmers, the DM can offer crop insurance coverage for adopting low-water-intensive crops and promote micro-irrigation. Institutionally, participatory groundwater management should be established drawing on Maharashtra’s Pani Panchayat and Haryana’s Sukhomajri models, alongside rejuvenating traditional water bodies under Jal Shakti Abhiyan.
(c) Administrative and Ethical Dilemmas
Administrative: Upholding the rule of law versus handling mass democratic agitation; maintaining commercial confidentiality of industrial agreements versus ensuring transparency under the Right to Information; and mitigating personal career risk versus serving public interest under political pressure.
Ethical: Utilitarian aggregate welfare (saving factory jobs) versus Rawlsian justice (protecting vulnerable marginal farmers); public fiduciary duty toward farmers’ basic survival versus contractual obligations to industries; and uncompromising personal integrity versus administrative expediency.
A proactive approach grounded in Gandhian trusteeship and participatory water governance ensures equitable resource sharing while sustaining economic resilience.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: GS4 Ethical Dilemma & Administrative Action Framework
What earns full marks: Comprehensive analysis of options, balanced stakeholder approach, and deep ethical reasoning.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- (a) Discuss all options available to the District Collector as District Magistrate.
discuss— intro → 3-4 dimensions → example → balanced close
Must cover
- Legal powers: BNSS s.163 prohibitory orders, BNSS s.152 nuisance orders, drought/disaster powers under the DM Act 2005, BNS s.223 for disobedience
- Regulate groundwater: act against unauthorised borewells under CGWA/state groundwater law, meter and cap industrial extraction, prioritise drinking water
- Administrative: water rationing and tanker supply, district water committee, grievance hearings, vigilance on industry equally
- Evaluate each option (closing industry, allowing all, balanced regulation) with consequences
Loses marks
- Only coercive options
- Ignoring the industry's extraction
- Options without evaluation
Earns more
- Coordination with SPCB and state government
- Communication strategy to counter mistrust
- Emergency relief for crop loss
Extra mark
- Reference to Maharashtra/other state groundwater Acts
- (b) Suggest actions that reconcile the compatible interests of stakeholders.
suggest— the problem in one line → implementable measures → who acts → conclusion
Must cover
- Equal enforcement on industry: audit extraction, mandate recycled water/ZLD, reduce or stagger industrial draw during crisis
- Transparency: public water audit and data disclosure to address corruption allegations
- Support for farmers: protective irrigation schedule, crop advisories for low-water crops, compensation/insurance, micro-irrigation
- Participatory governance: water user groups, pani panchayat-type sharing, recharge and tank rejuvenation (Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Atal Bhujal)
Loses marks
- Solutions favouring one side only
- No transparency measure
- Vague 'conserve water'
Earns more
- Industry CSR for village water infrastructure
- Long-term water budgeting
- Conflict-resolution mechanism
Extra mark
- Example of a successful local water-sharing model
- (c) Identify the administrative and ethical dilemmas for the District Collector.
analyse— intro → causes → effects → stakeholders/linkages → way forward
Must cover
- Administrative: law enforcement vs managing protest; drinking water vs irrigation vs industry allocation; limited data and capacity
- Ethical: livelihoods of farmers vs jobs of workers; utilitarian vs Rawlsian justice; impartiality amid corruption allegations
- Personal integrity and political pressure; transparency vs confidentiality
- Short-term relief vs long-term sustainability (intergenerational equity)
Loses marks
- Listing problems not dilemmas
- One-sided framing
- No ethical terms
Earns more
- Use of public trust doctrine
- Emotional intelligence in dealing with agitation
- Accountability to all stakeholders
Extra mark
- Reference to Plachimada or similar case
What "Discuss" is asking you to do
Lay the issue out from more than one side — how it arose, what is claimed for it, what is held against it, and where it now stands. UPSC attaches discuss to broad topics with several live dimensions, so coverage of the dimensions earns more than the strength of your opinion.
Structure that answers it
Set the issue up → the case as it is made → the case against → the dimension both sides leave out → where the balance now lies
Where marks are lost
Listing facts with no thread between them, or arguing one side throughout and calling it a discussion.
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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