4 Human Settlements

 

NCERT Questions

 

  1. Choose the right answer of the following from the given options:

 

(i) Which one of the following towns is not located on a river bank?

a) Agra

b) Bhopal

c) Patna

d) Kolkata

Ans. b) Bhopal

 

(ii) Which one of the following is not the part of the definition of a town as per the census of India?

a) Population density of 400% persons/Km2

b) Presence of Municipality Corporation etc.

c) More than 75% of the population engaged in primary sector

d) Population size of more than 5000 persons

Ans. c) More than 75% of the population engaged in primary sector

 

(iii) In which one of the following environments does one expect the presence of dispersed rural settlements?

a) Alluvial plains of Ganga

b) Arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan

c) Lower valleys of Himalayas

d) Forest and hills in North East

Ans. d) Forest and hills in North East

 

(iv) Which one of the following group of cities has been arranged in the sequence of their rank i.e. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in size?

a) Greater Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai

b) Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata

c) Kolkata, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata

d) Greater Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai

Ans. a) Greater Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai

 

  1. Answer the following questions in about 30 words:

 

(i) What are Garrison towns? What is their function?

Ans. Garrison towns are the towns whose formation is a result of the setting up of military base. They are also referred to as cantonment towns. Ambala, Mhow etc. can be referred to as Garrison towns. The main function of the garrison towns is to cater to the needs of defence and people employed in defence services of the nation. These are specially designed for the purpose of military, navy or air force activities.

 

(ii) How can one identify an urban agglomeration?

Ans. An urban agglomeration consists of anyone of the following three combinations:

a) A town and its adjoining urban out growth

b) Two or more contiguous towns, with or without their out growth

c) A city and one or more adjoining towns with their out growths together forming a contiguous spread.

Examples of urban out growth are railway colonies, university campus, sport area, military, and cantonment etc. located within the revenue limits of village or villages contiguous to the town or city.

 

(iii) What are the main factors for the location of villages in desert regions?

Ans. Desert regions are characterised by aridity, that is, lack of water, hence scanty vegetation which is xerophyte in nature. A main factor in the desert for settlement patterns is supply of water. In Rajasthan in India there tend to be clustered settlements around Oasis and other regions of water availability. Since these are the only few regions where water is available, therefore settlement around the water source become clustered and is the main driving force for habitation.

 

(iv) What are metropolitan cities? How are they different from urban agglomerations?

Ans. According to Census of India, the cities with population between 1 to 5 million are termed as metropolitan cities. An urban agglomeration is a stretch of urban area which may comprise two or more cities. Many of the metropolitan cities of India are basically urban agglomeration.

 

  1. Answer the following questions in about 150 words:

 

(i) Discuss the features of different types of rural settlements. What are the factors responsible for the settlement patterns in different physical environment?

Ans. In India, compact or clustered village of a few 100 houses is common, particularly in the northern plains, but there are areas with other forms of rural settlements. There are various factors and conditions responsible for having different types of rural settlements in India, these include:

  • Physical features – nature of terrain, altitude, climate and availability of water
  • Cluster and ethnic factors – social structure, cast and religion
  • Security factors – defence against thefts and robberies

 

Guided by these factors, rural settlements in India can broadly be put into four types:

a) Clustered, agglomerated, or nucleated

b) Semi clustered or fragmented

c) Hamilton

d) Dispersed or isolated

 

Clustered settlements: The clustered rural settlement is a compact or closely built up area of houses. Here’s the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns, and pastures. The closely built up area and its intervening streets give rise to pattern or geometric shapes such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc. These are generally found in fertile alluvial plains and in the north eastern states. People live in compact village for security or defence reasons, such as in the Bundelkhand region of central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan, scarcity of water has necessitated compact settlement for a maximum utilization of available water resources.

 

Semi clustered settlements: Semi clustered or fragmented settlements may result from tendency of clustered in a restricted area of dispersed settlement. In this case, one or more sections of the village society choose or are forced to live a little away from the main cluster or village. Generally, the land owning and dominant community occupies the central part of the main village, whereas people of lower strata of society and menial workers settle on the outer flanks of the village.

 

Hamlet Settlements: This settlement is fragmented into several units, physically separated from each other, bearing a common name. These units are locally called panna, para, palli, nagla, dhani, etc. in various parts of the country. This segmentation of a large village is often due to social and ethnic factors.

 

Dispersed Settlements: In India, dispersed or isolated settlement patterns appear in isolated form of hut or hamlet or in remote jungle on small hill with farm or pasture on the slopes. Extreme dispersion of settlement is often caused by extremely fragmented nature of the terrain and land resource base of habitable areas.

 

(ii) Can one imagine the presence of only one function town? Why do the cities become multifunctional?

Ans. Towns and cities are generally classified on the basis of the functions they perform. No town performs single function; rather they are classified on the basis of the dominant function they perform. Even specialised cities as they grow into metropolis become multifunctional bearing industry, business administration, transport, etc. become important. The functions get to intervene that the city cannot be categorized in a particular functional class. Due to varying needs of human beings entire town cannot be engaged in a single activity. Even if it is a garrison town, basic trade activities must be carried out to provide the residents with the articles of day to day need. To support the dominant activity of the town, the ancillary activities start emerging.

 

Mumbai is a transport town due to presence of port in Mumbai but it is also hub of international trade in India. Hence, is a trade town, also, it is a commercial capital of the country due to varying commercial activities which are the result of the presence of large capital in the city because of it being a trading town and a port city. Therefore, the presence of a dominant or a single function also attracts people to the town, which in turn create conditions conducive for development of other functions. Hence, towns become multifunctional. The functions performed in town are extremely dynamic. New functions keep on adding and old functions getting linked with each other. Therefore, in modern economies, no town can be a single function to town.

 

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