UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Western Ghats conservation with science and dialogue

Q1. The 39 component parts of the Western Ghats World Heritage property are organised into seven sub-clusters. Which one of the following is the northernmost of these sub-clusters, along with its correct State?

  • A. The Sahyadri sub-cluster, situated in Maharashtra
  • B. The Kudremukh sub-cluster, situated in Maharashtra
  • C. The Agasthyamalai sub-cluster, situated in Karnataka
  • D. The Talacauvery sub-cluster, situated in Tamil Nadu

Q2. The Western Ghats were inscribed on the World Heritage List as a serial natural property comprising 39 component parts. Into how many sub-clusters are these component parts grouped for management and for expressing Outstanding Universal Value?

  • A. Five sub-clusters, each managed under an approved working plan
  • B. Six sub-clusters, one for each Western Ghats State
  • C. Seven sub-clusters, managed under approved management plans
  • D. Nine sub-clusters, each corresponding to one tiger reserve

Q3. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel recommended that the Ghats be treated as an Ecologically Sensitive Area. How large was the administrative unit coverage it proposed?

  • A. 142 talukas spread across 44 districts
  • B. 123 talukas spread across 44 districts
  • C. 142 talukas, amounting to every single taluka in all six Western Ghats States
  • D. 59 talukas spread across 37 districts

Q4. The Central Government's draft notifications declaring parts of the Western Ghats an Ecologically Sensitive Area derive their legal authority from which one of the following?

  • A. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2022
  • B. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, administered by the States
  • C. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, through the National Biodiversity Authority
  • D. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, administered by the MoEF&CC

Q5. In the context of the pending Western Ghats notification, the expression 'Ecologically Sensitive Area' is best understood as which one of the following?

  • A. An area demarcated by the Central Government in which specified activities such as mining, quarrying and red-category industries stand prohibited or regulated
  • B. The stretch of the Ghats placed on the World Heritage List in 2010, whose 39 component parts carry an international protection obligation
  • C. A zone of uniform width around every national park and sanctuary that comes into being automatically on the declaration of the protected area
  • D. The catchment of a peninsular river notified by the State Government as requiring a river basin management plan under a Central scheme

Q6. The Western Ghats run roughly 1,500 km from the Tapti valley to near Kanyakumari. What is the approximate total geographical extent of this mountain range?

  • A. About 7,953 sq km, the extent recognised by UNESCO for the range
  • B. About 56,825 sq km, as measured by the Survey of India
  • C. About 59,940 sq km, as assessed by the Forest Survey of India
  • D. About 1.64 lakh sq km, of which a part is proposed as ESA

Q7. With reference to the physiography of the Western Ghats, the Palghat Gap is correctly described as which one of the following?

  • A. A break about 32 km wide lying between the Nilgiri Hills and the Anaimalai Hills, straddling the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border
  • B. A break about 32 km wide lying between the Sahyadri and the Nilgiri Hills, straddling the Karnataka-Kerala border
  • C. A gorge cut through the Cardamom Hills by the Periyar, forming the Kerala-Tamil Nadu boundary near Thekkady
  • D. A coastal lowland separating the seaward face of the Ghats from the Arabian Sea in northern Kerala

Q8. The taluk containing the hamlets destroyed in the Wayanad landslide disaster had already been placed in the most restrictive category of ecological sensitivity by one of the two expert bodies. Which one of the following correctly states that classification?

  • A. Vythiri taluk was placed in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1, the strictest grade, by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel
  • B. Vythiri taluk was placed in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 3, the strictest grade, by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel
  • C. Mananthavady taluk was placed in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 by the High Level Working Group, which used the same three grades
  • D. Vythiri taluk was left outside every sensitivity grade by both expert bodies and entered the record only after 2024

Q9. The fresh draft Ecologically Sensitive Area notification for the Western Ghats lists 13 villages of Wayanad district, Kerala. Which of the following villages are correctly identified as figuring in that list?

  1. Thirunelli, in Mananthavady taluka
  2. Noolpuzha, in Mananthavady taluka
  3. Mundakkai, in Vythiri taluka
  4. Pozhuthana, in Vythiri taluka
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q10. Which one of the following statements about the fresh draft Ecologically Sensitive Area notification for the Western Ghats issued at the end of July 2024 is correct?

  • A. Issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, it was the sixth such draft since March 2014 and proposed about 56,825 sq km across six States
  • B. Issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, it was the first such draft since March 2014 and proposed about 59,940 sq km across five States
  • C. Issued by NITI Aayog on the advice of the Ministry, it was the sixth such draft since March 2014 and proposed about 56,825 sq km across six States
  • D. Issued by the National Green Tribunal on a reference from the Ministry, it was the third such draft since October 2018 and proposed about 7,953 sq km across six States