Q.Explain briefly how rapid economic growth has created environmental challenges for India, and describe any two steps taken by the Government of India to address them.

Rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, and intensive agriculture have caused pollution, deforestation, and groundwater depletion in India; the government has responded through the National Action Plan on Climate Change and by promoting renewable energy.

India's rapid economic growth over recent decades has been accompanied by real environmental costs. Industrialisation and rising vehicular traffic have increased air and water pollution in and around industrial and urban centres; expansion of agriculture and human settlement has caused deforestation and loss of biodiversity; and intensive irrigation, along with urban and industrial demand, has depleted groundwater in many regions. India has also become more vulnerable to climate change, seen in more frequent heatwaves and erratic monsoon patterns, which particularly affect agriculture-dependent and poorer households.

Two important steps taken by the Government of India to address these challenges:

1. National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) — a framework of specific missions covering solar energy, energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, water conservation, protection of the Himalayan ecosystem, afforestation ("Green India"), sustainable agriculture, and building climate-related knowledge.
2. Promotion of renewable energy — large-scale expansion of solar and wind power capacity, supported internationally through India's role in founding the International Solar Alliance, aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Other valid examples include the Swachh Bharat Mission (sanitation and waste management), afforestation and water-conservation drives, and India's commitments under the UN Sustainable Development Goals and international climate conferences.

Students sometimes describe environmental problems in general terms without linking them to the specific drivers (industrialisation, urbanisation, intensive agriculture) that the question asks about, or name a government scheme without briefly stating what it actually does.