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RAS question

Assertion (A): The Eco-Sensitive Zone of 408.7 square kilometres notified around the Hastinapur Barasingha Wildlife Sanctuary on April 23, 2026 regulates commercial mining and large polluting industries within its limits. Reason (R): An Eco-Sensitive Zone is notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to act as a graded buffer around protected areas. Choose the correct option:

Correct answer: (D) A is false but R is true.

The Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary Eco-Sensitive Zone assertion is false because the official notification gives the ESZ area as 239.41 square kilometres, while the reason correctly states the legal basis for notifying ESZs under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

  1. (A)

    Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

  2. (B)

    Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A

  3. (C)

    A is true but R is false

  4. (D)

    A is false but R is true

Explanation

Assertion A fails on the specific area figure. The official notification for the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary Eco-Sensitive Zone states that the sanctuary is surrounded by an ESZ extending up to one kilometre from the protected-area boundary and that the ESZ area is 239.41 square kilometres, not 408.7 square kilometres. The notification does contain the usual ESZ controls: commercial mining is prohibited, and new or expanded polluting industries are not permitted within the ESZ. Reason R is correct because the notification is issued under section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, read with rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, as a protective buffer around the sanctuary. Hence A is false but R is true.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) It treats both statements as true, but the assertion's 408.7 square kilometre area contradicts the official 239.41 square kilometre ESZ figure.
  • (B) It also assumes Assertion A is true, whereas the official notification makes the assertion false on the area stated.
  • (C) It reverses the error: the assertion is not true, while the reason is supported by the notification's Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 basis.

Concept

This tests Eco-Sensitive Zones around protected areas, especially the legal source of notification and the need to match factual figures with official notifications. RAS often uses assertion-reason questions to separate a correct environmental principle from an incorrect current-affairs detail.

Source

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