2005 General Studies, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2005 · General Studies

Question 134: Environment and Ecology

Consider the following statements:

  1. 1.Silent Valley National Park is in the Nallamalai range.
  2. 2.Pathrakkadavu Hydroelectric Project is proposed to be built near the Silent Valley National Park.
  3. 3.The Kunthi river originates in Silent Valley’s rainforests.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a1 and 3
b2 only
c2 and 3
d1, 2 and 3

AnswerThe answer is (c).

Silent Valley National Park, in Kerala's Palakkad district, lies in the Nilgiri hills, not the Nallamalai range, so statement 1 is wrong. Statement 2 is right: the Pathrakkadavu hydroelectric project was proposed near the park. Statement 3 is right: the Kunthi river (Kunthipuzha) rises in Silent Valley's rainforests. The 1980s campaign against the earlier Silent Valley dam made the area famous.

  • 1. Silent Valley is in the Nilgiri hills of Kerala, not the Nallamalai range.
  • 2. Pathrakkadavu hydroelectric project was proposed near the park.
  • 3. The Kunthi river originates in Silent Valley.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is not correct, (a) and (d) go: each of them includes 1.

    What you needed to know: Silent Valley is in the Nilgiri hills of Kerala, not the Nallamalai range.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 3 is correct, (b) goes: it leaves 3 out.

    What you needed to know: The Kunthi river originates in Silent Valley.

Only (c) is left. You didn’t need statement 2.

This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.

Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Statement 1 is false: the park is in the Nilgiri hills.
  • (b) Drops statement 3, which is right.
  • (c) Correct: statements 2 and 3.
  • (d) Statement 1 is false.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2005, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.