UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC committee pulls up Assam government for inaction over mining activity near Kaziranga

Q1. The Central Empowered Committee, notified in 2023 on a permanent footing with its members nominated by the Union environment ministry, is established under which one of the following enactments?

  • A. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
  • B. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
  • C. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
  • D. The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

Q2. The Central Empowered Committee was first set up in 2002 as a national-level panel to monitor compliance with the Supreme Court's directions on forests and wildlife. It owes its origin to proceedings in which one of the following cases?

  • A. M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, in which the Court evolved the principle of absolute liability for hazardous industry
  • B. T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, in which the Court assumed continuing supervision over forest administration
  • C. Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum v. Union of India, in which the Court read the precautionary principle into domestic law
  • D. Goa Foundation v. Union of India, in which the Court dealt with the renewal of mineral concessions in a coastal State

Q3. The Supreme Court in June 2022 prescribed a minimum eco-sensitive zone of one kilometre around every national park and wildlife sanctuary. As the position stands after the modification of April 2023, which one of the following is correct?

  • A. The minimum stands withdrawn in full, and each State is now free to fix the width of the zone by its own notification
  • B. The minimum was raised to ten kilometres for national parks, while wildlife sanctuaries continued to be governed by the one-kilometre floor
  • C. The minimum applies to every protected area without exception, irrespective of any eco-sensitive zone notification already in force
  • D. The minimum does not apply where a draft or final eco-sensitive zone notification has already been issued

Q4. In the procedure for declaring an eco-sensitive zone around a national park or wildlife sanctuary, the survey and identification of the area to be so declared, and the framing of the proposal, are carried out by which one of the following?

  • A. The Forest Advisory Committee functioning in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • B. The State Government concerned, for consideration by the Central Government
  • C. The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife, chaired by the Union Environment Minister
  • D. The National Tiger Conservation Authority, acting in consultation with the State Chief Wildlife Warden

Q5. With reference to Kaziranga National Park, consider the following statements: 1. It lies in the floodplain of the Brahmaputra, with the Karbi (Mikir) Hills lying to its south. 2. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. 3. It holds the single largest population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros in the world. 4. Within India the greater one-horned rhinoceros is confined to Kaziranga alone, no other protected area reporting the species. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. It lies in the floodplain of the Brahmaputra, with the Karbi (Mikir) Hills lying to its south.
  2. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
  3. It holds the single largest population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros in the world.
  4. Within India the greater one-horned rhinoceros is confined to Kaziranga alone, no other protected area reporting the species.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 4 only
  • D. 4 only

Q6. After Kaziranga, which one of the following holds the largest share of India's greater one-horned rhinoceros population?

  • A. Orang National Park, Assam
  • B. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam
  • C. Manas National Park, Assam
  • D. Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh

Q7. The proposal to reduce the extent of Kaziranga's eco-sensitive zone can acquire legal force only through a notification issued by which one of the following?

  • A. The Assam State Board for Wildlife, acting on the recommendation of the State Forest Department
  • B. The Central Empowered Committee, which monitors compliance with forest and wildlife orders
  • C. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • D. The National Board for Wildlife, acting through its Standing Committee on protected areas

Q8. With reference to the proposal to redraw the eco-sensitive zone of Kaziranga National Park, consider the following statements: 1. The zone as it presently stands extends up to ten kilometres from the park's boundary. 2. The State seeks to compress it to a band of about one to three kilometres. 3. The proposal is defended as consistent with the Supreme Court's acceptance of site-specific eco-sensitive zones in place of a uniform width. 4. The reduction has already taken effect, the revised zone having been notified by the Centre. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The zone as it presently stands extends up to ten kilometres from the park's boundary.
  2. The State seeks to compress it to a band of about one to three kilometres.
  3. The proposal is defended as consistent with the Supreme Court's acceptance of site-specific eco-sensitive zones in place of a uniform width.
  4. The reduction has already taken effect, the revised zone having been notified by the Centre.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 3 only

Q9. The Central Empowered Committee's report of May 2025 recorded that mining in the Parkup Pahar area had resumed and intensified in breach of an existing restraint. That restraint flows from which one of the following?

  • A. A direction of the National Green Tribunal prohibiting every form of quarrying and stone-crushing throughout the Brahmaputra floodplain
  • B. A 2019 order of the Supreme Court restraining mining along the park's southern boundary and in catchments of streams rising in the Karbi Anglong hills
  • C. A 2019 order of the Supreme Court cancelling, without exception, every mineral concession granted anywhere in the State of Assam
  • D. A notification of the Union environment ministry permanently barring all change of land use across the whole of Karbi Anglong district

Q10. The executive arm of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, one of the autonomous district councils constituted under the Sixth Schedule, is headed by an office designated as the:

  • A. Chairman of the autonomous district council
  • B. Chief Councillor of the autonomous district
  • C. Chief Executive Member
  • D. Principal Executive Officer of the district council

Q11. The Supreme Court's judgment of November 13, 2025 made applicable across the country a prohibition on mining within national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and within one kilometre of their boundaries. That prohibition had first been laid down in proceedings concerning which one of the following States?

  • A. Goa
  • B. Jharkhand
  • C. Odisha
  • D. Karnataka

Q12. Recommendations on proposals for diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes, on the basis of which the Union environment ministry grants 'in-principle' approval, are made by which one of the following?

  • A. The Central Empowered Committee constituted on the directions of the Supreme Court of India
  • B. The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
  • C. The expert members of the National Green Tribunal constituted under the Act of 2010
  • D. The Forest Advisory Committee constituted under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980