SSC MTS EXAM

Detailed explanation-1: -The primary cause behind the shrinking of the Aral Sea is the diversion (for purposes of irrigation) of the main sources of inflowing water, the riverine waters of the Syr Darya (ancient Jaxartes River) in the north and the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) in the south, which historically discharged into the Aral Sea.

Detailed explanation-2: -The irrigation of the cotton fields from the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers, contributed a great deal to the disappearance of the Aral Sea to more than half of its original size.

Detailed explanation-3: -The lake they made, the Aral Sea, was once the fourth largest in the world. Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Aral Sea in the Soviet Union, formerly the world’s fourth largest lake in area, is disappearing. Between 1960 and 1987, its level dropped nearly 13 meters, and its area decreased by 40 percent. Recession has resulted from reduced inflow caused primarily by withdrawals of water for irrigation.