(a) Identify the jute-producing areas and discuss the major causes of decline of jute mill industry in India. (b) Urban built…

(a) Jute-producing areas and decline of the jute mill industry

Areas. Jute needs a hot, humid climate, about 1,500 mm of rain and alluvial soil with standing water for retting. West Bengal (Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar) produces the most, followed by Bihar (Purnia, Katihar, Araria) and Assam (Goalpara, Nagaon), with smaller areas in Odisha, Tripura and Meghalaya. About 70 mills cluster on the Hooghly bank in West Bengal.

Causes of decline. (i) Synthetic packaging such as polypropylene is cheaper and substitutes for jute sacks. (ii) Bangladesh has lower costs, better fibre and export incentives, and competes in carpet backing and yarn. (iii) Old machinery, low productivity and high power and labour costs weigh on mills. (iv) Raw jute supply and prices swing with floods, small holdings and poor retting water. (v) Labour disputes, closures and unpaid dues, and dependence on government orders under the Jute Packaging Materials Act, 1987. (vi) Little product diversification or branding.

Modernisation, diversified eco-friendly products, better fibre quality and stable demand would help the industry.

(b) Urban built environment and biophysical change

Large Indian cities replace soil, vegetation and water bodies with concrete, asphalt and glass, which changes the landscape's physical and biological character.

(i) Thermal. Impervious surfaces absorb heat and waste heat from vehicles and air conditioners adds to it, forming urban heat islands, as in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, with warm nights.

(ii) Hydrological. Less infiltration reduces groundwater recharge, raises surface runoff, and with encroached lakes and drains, produces urban floods, as in Chennai in 2015 and Bengaluru.

(iii) Atmospheric. Emissions and dust, trapped by street canyons, degrade air quality, and building form alters wind flow.

(iv) Ecological. Loss of green cover and habitats cuts biodiversity and evapotranspiration, and noise and light pollution rise.

Permeable surfaces, green roofs, protection of wetlands, urban forests and heat-sensitive planning reduce these changes.

(c) Eastern Ghats: geology and ecological significance

Geology. The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous chain of hills along the east coast, from Odisha through Andhra Pradesh to northern Tamil Nadu, made of Precambrian metamorphic rocks: khondalites, charnockites and gneisses, of the Eastern Ghats mobile belt. They are broken by the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Penner rivers. Heights average 600 to 1,200 m, with Jindhagada (Arma Konda) at about 1,690 m. Minerals include bauxite, iron ore, manganese and mica.

Ecology. They hold dry and moist deciduous forests, the Seshachalam hills with red sanders, Similipal and Papikonda protected areas, and elephant habitats. They receive rain from the retreating monsoon, feed east-flowing rivers, recharge springs and support tribal livelihoods. Their conservation is hindered by mining, shifting cultivation and deforestation.

(d) Cultural regions of India

Cultural regions are areas that share language, religion, social organisation, economy and material culture.

(i) Indo-Gangetic core. Indo-Aryan languages, Hindu pilgrimage and temple culture, caste-based agrarian society.

(ii) Dravidian south. Dravidian languages, temple architecture, classical arts, and in Kerala some matrilineal traditions.

(iii) Western and Deccan. Marathi and Gujarati culture with its merchant tradition, and pastoral and desert cultures of Rajasthan.

(iv) Himalayan and Buddhist. Tibetan languages, monasteries, highland pastoralism and Buddhist ritual in Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

(v) Central tribal belt and north-east. Adivasi communities with clan identity, forest livelihoods and oral traditions, and in the north-east Tibeto-Burman languages, clan societies and, among the Khasi, matrilineal descent.

The regions overlap through migration, trade and media, and unity in diversity remains the basis of the Indian cultural landscape.

(e) Critical minerals and India's development and security

Critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earths and copper, are essential inputs of batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, electronics and defence equipment.

(i) Economic. The energy transition, net-zero goals and manufacturing programmes such as Make in India and electronics PLI depend on them.

(ii) Security. Missiles, radar, satellites, aircraft and communication equipment need rare earths and special metals.

(iii) Vulnerability. Supply and processing are concentrated in a few countries, notably China, which can restrict exports, and India imports most of its needs.

(iv) Response. The MMDR Amendment of 2023 and the critical mineral list, auctions, KABIL's overseas assets such as lithium in Argentina, recycling, and the National Critical Mineral Mission, with partnerships like the Minerals Security Partnership, aim to secure supply.