UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Karnataka HC quashes land acquisition for KHB project
Q1. The 2018 proposal that capped the maximum buffer around Bannerghatta National Park at one kilometre and thereby shrank its proposed eco-sensitive zone to 168.84 sq km was made by which one of the following?
- A. The State Government of Karnataka
- B. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- C. The Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee
- D. The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife
Q2. Consider the following statements regarding the eco-sensitive zone of Bannerghatta National Park:
1. The draft notification of June 2016 demarcated an eco-sensitive zone of 268.96 sq km.
2. The 2016 draft provided for a buffer varying from 100 metres to 4.5 kilometres around the park boundary.
3. The final notification of March 2020 enlarged the eco-sensitive zone beyond the extent proposed in the 2016 draft.
4. The State Government's 2018 proposal capped the maximum buffer at three kilometres.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- The draft notification of June 2016 demarcated an eco-sensitive zone of 268.96 sq km.
- The 2016 draft provided for a buffer varying from 100 metres to 4.5 kilometres around the park boundary.
- The final notification of March 2020 enlarged the eco-sensitive zone beyond the extent proposed in the 2016 draft.
- The State Government's 2018 proposal capped the maximum buffer at three kilometres.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 2, 3 and 4
Q3. Consider the following statements comparing the Supreme Court's 2022 direction on eco-sensitive zones with its subsequent modification:
1. The order of 3 June 2022 required every national park and wildlife sanctuary to have an eco-sensitive zone of at least one kilometre measured from its demarcated boundary.
2. In April 2023 the Court held that this one-kilometre mandate would not apply in cases where a draft or final eco-sensitive zone notification had already been issued.
3. The requirement that development activity within an eco-sensitive zone conform to the guidelines of 9 February 2011 flows from guidelines framed by the National Board for Wildlife.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The order of 3 June 2022 required every national park and wildlife sanctuary to have an eco-sensitive zone of at least one kilometre measured from its demarcated boundary.
- In April 2023 the Court held that this one-kilometre mandate would not apply in cases where a draft or final eco-sensitive zone notification had already been issued.
- The requirement that development activity within an eco-sensitive zone conform to the guidelines of 9 February 2011 flows from guidelines framed by the National Board for Wildlife.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. The notification finally declaring an eco-sensitive zone around a national park, following the publication of a draft under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, is issued by which one of the following?
- A. The State forest department, acting through the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State
- B. The National Board for Wildlife, on the recommendation of its Standing Committee
- C. The Central Pollution Control Board, constituted under the Water Act, 1974
- D. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Q5. In quashing the land acquisition for the Karnataka Housing Board's Suryanagar 4th phase layout in August 2026, what was the principal ground on which the Division Bench held the acquisition to be 'misconceived'?
- A. That no agricultural land anywhere in Karnataka may be acquired for housing without the individual consent of every landowner
- B. That the Karnataka Housing Board is wholly barred by its parent statute from developing layouts in Bengaluru Urban district
- C. That the project area falls within the park's proposed eco-sensitive zone and abuts elephant corridors
- D. That residential layouts within ten kilometres of any national park in India are permanently prohibited
Q6. How many acres of agricultural land acquired for the Suryanagar 4th phase residential layout were set aside by the Karnataka High Court's Division Bench in August 2026?
- A. 968 acres
- B. 1,684 acres
- C. 2,938 acres
- D. 1,938 acres
Q7. With reference to the Central Empowered Committee as reconstituted in 2023, consider the following:
1. It functions as a body monitoring compliance with Supreme Court orders in forest and wildlife matters.
2. It consists of a Chairman, a Member Secretary and three expert members.
3. Its members hold office for a term of three years.
4. It retains reserved places for representatives of non-governmental organisations.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- It functions as a body monitoring compliance with Supreme Court orders in forest and wildlife matters.
- It consists of a Chairman, a Member Secretary and three expert members.
- Its members hold office for a term of three years.
- It retains reserved places for representatives of non-governmental organisations.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 1 and 4 only
Q8. The ad hoc body that preceded the permanent Central Empowered Committee was originally constituted by the Supreme Court in the course of proceedings in which one of the following cases?
- A. M.C. Mehta v. Union of India
- B. T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India
- C. Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum v. Union of India
- D. Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India
Q9. Consider the following statements about Bannerghatta National Park:
1. It lies on the northern edge of the Mysore Elephant Reserve.
2. It facilitates elephant movement from the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and the Hosur Forest Division of Tamil Nadu.
3. It serves as the watershed for streams including the Suvarnamukhi and the Antaragange Hole.
4. Its forest belt is uniformly more than five kilometres wide throughout, which insulates it from urban pressure.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It lies on the northern edge of the Mysore Elephant Reserve.
- It facilitates elephant movement from the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and the Hosur Forest Division of Tamil Nadu.
- It serves as the watershed for streams including the Suvarnamukhi and the Antaragange Hole.
- Its forest belt is uniformly more than five kilometres wide throughout, which insulates it from urban pressure.
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 4 only
- C. 2 and 3
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. Consider the following statements about the wildlife of Bannerghatta National Park as compared with other urban-fringe protected areas in India:
1. Roughly a hundred elephants use the landscape in and around the park.
2. A resident tiger presence in the park makes Bengaluru the only Indian city with tigers in its landscape.
3. Unlike elephants and leopards, gaur and dhole are absent from the park's faunal assemblage.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Roughly a hundred elephants use the landscape in and around the park.
- A resident tiger presence in the park makes Bengaluru the only Indian city with tigers in its landscape.
- Unlike elephants and leopards, gaur and dhole are absent from the park's faunal assemblage.
- A. 1 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 2 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q11. Which one of the following is the nodal department at the Centre for administering the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013?
- A. The Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development
- B. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India
- C. The Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development
- D. The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
Q12. Under the Karnataka Housing Board Act, 1962, which one of the following is the chief executive functionary of the Board, exercising the powers of a major Head of Department over its officers and servants?
- A. The Chairman of the Board, in whom all executive powers of the Board are exclusively vested
- B. The Housing Commissioner of the Board
- C. The Principal Secretary, Housing Department, Government of Karnataka
- D. The Chief Engineer of the Board, who invariably heads all its land development schemes