UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Aravalli panel failed to conduct adequate study, say activists
Q1. The exercise to frame a uniform, policy-level definition of 'Aravalli hills and ranges' for the purpose of regulating mining leases was carried out through a committee constituted under which one of the following Union ministries?
- A. The Ministry of Mines, through the Geological Survey of India
- B. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- C. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, through the Central Ground Water Board
- D. The Ministry of Earth Sciences, through the Survey of India
Q2. The landform classification first relied upon to identify an 'Aravalli hill' as any landform rising 100 metres above the local relief is attributed to which one of the following?
- A. The peneplain cycle-of-erosion classification of William Morris Davis
- B. The pediplanation landform classification of Lester Charles King
- C. The landform classification of Richard Murphy
- D. The hypsometric slope-unit classification of Arthur Newell Strahler
Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the criteria used to delineate the Aravallis before and after the Supreme Court's order of 20 November 2025:
1. The Forest Survey of India's 2010 Status Report had used a slope-based criterion of a gradient greater than 3 degrees, together with a 100-metre foothill buffer and a 500-metre inter-hill distance.
2. The November 2025 order set aside the slope-based approach in favour of an elevation-based metric, treating landforms rising 100 metres or more above the local relief as hills and two or more such hills lying within 500 metres of each other as a range.
3. The same order simultaneously lifted the restriction on the grant of fresh mining leases, leaving the preparation of a landscape-wide management plan to the discretion of the States.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Forest Survey of India's 2010 Status Report had used a slope-based criterion of a gradient greater than 3 degrees, together with a 100-metre foothill buffer and a 500-metre inter-hill distance.
- The November 2025 order set aside the slope-based approach in favour of an elevation-based metric, treating landforms rising 100 metres or more above the local relief as hills and two or more such hills lying within 500 metres of each other as a range.
- The same order simultaneously lifted the restriction on the grant of fresh mining leases, leaving the preparation of a landscape-wide management plan to the discretion of the States.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. In the evidence placed before the Supreme Court against the elevation-based definition, out of about 12,081 mapped hills of the Rajasthan Aravallis, how many were found to satisfy the 100-metre threshold?
- A. About 4,032 hills, that is, roughly one-third of those mapped
- B. About 1,048 hills, that is, fewer than one-tenth of those mapped
- C. About 6,540 hills, that is, slightly more than half of those mapped
- D. About 2,416 hills, that is, roughly one-fifth of those mapped
Q5. Which one of the following States accounts for the largest share of the extent of the Aravalli range?
- A. Gujarat, where the range terminates in its south-western segment
- B. Haryana, whose Aravalli districts adjoin the National Capital Region
- C. Rajasthan, about fifteen of whose districts carry the bulk of the range
- D. Madhya Pradesh, where the range merges with the Vindhyan uplands
Q6. In the standard two-fold division of the Aravalli system, the term 'Sambhar–Sirohi ranges' denotes which one of the following?
- A. The taller south-western section, which contains Mount Abu and the system's highest peak
- B. The low north-eastern section that continues under alluvium from Delhi towards Haridwar
- C. The salt-basin section enclosing the inland drainage of western Rajasthan
- D. The eastern copper-bearing section running from Khetri towards the Chambal valley
Q7. In the terms of reference of the High-Powered Committee on the Aravallis, the question concerning 'intervening gaps' relates to which one of the following?
- A. Whether the periods between successive renewals of a mining lease should count towards the lease's validity
- B. Whether unbroken stretches of alluvium separating the Aravallis from the Vindhyas should be mapped as part of the range
- C. Whether the years elapsing between successive Forest Survey of India status reports leave gaps in the record of forest cover
- D. Whether mining should be allowed in the areas lying between two hills that fall within the 500-metre inter-hill zone
Q8. With reference to the High-Powered Committee on the Aravallis constituted in 2026, consider the following:
1. Subhash Ashutosh — former Director General, Forest Survey of India
2. Rajendra Kumar Sharma — former Director, Geological Survey of India
3. Kanchan Devi — Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, who chairs the Committee
4. Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements — a core member of the Committee
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Subhash Ashutosh — former Director General, Forest Survey of India
- Rajendra Kumar Sharma — former Director, Geological Survey of India
- Kanchan Devi — Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, who chairs the Committee
- Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements — a core member of the Committee
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q9. Aravalli tracts in Haryana are protected against mining and land-clearing through notifications issued under Sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900. Such notifications are issued by which one of the following?
- A. The State Government, acting through its forest administration
- B. The Central Empowered Committee, on a reference from the Supreme Court
- C. The Geological Survey of India, while classifying mineral-bearing tracts
- D. The National Capital Region Planning Board, while notifying its regional plan
Q10. Consider the following statements about the ecological role of the Aravallis and the protection regime that preceded the elevation-based definition:
1. A 2017 study of the Wildlife Institute of India recorded that the Aravallis acted as a green barrier and an effective shield against desertification, checking eastward migration of sand and dust through Haryana towards the capital region.
2. Protection of Aravalli land in and around the National Capital Region rests in part on a 1992 notification of the environment ministry and on later designations by the National Capital Region Planning Board, both of which predate the elevation-based definition.
3. Since the Thar has recently been greening under higher rainfall, the desertification threat to Haryana is now confined to surface movement of sand dunes and no longer requires the Aravallis to function as a physical barrier.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A 2017 study of the Wildlife Institute of India recorded that the Aravallis acted as a green barrier and an effective shield against desertification, checking eastward migration of sand and dust through Haryana towards the capital region.
- Protection of Aravalli land in and around the National Capital Region rests in part on a 1992 notification of the environment ministry and on later designations by the National Capital Region Planning Board, both of which predate the elevation-based definition.
- Since the Thar has recently been greening under higher rainfall, the desertification threat to Haryana is now confined to surface movement of sand dunes and no longer requires the Aravallis to function as a physical barrier.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3