Question Details

What was the common reason behind every environmental protest in India?

Read the given passage and answer the following questions based on that.

Almost 40 years ago — a group of peasants in a remote Himalayan village stopped a group of loggers from felling a patch of trees. Thus was born the Chipko movement, and through it the modern Indian environmental movement itself. The first thing to remember about Chipko is that it was not unique. It was representative of a wide spectrum of natural resource conflicts in the 1970s and 1980s — conflicts over forests, fish, and pasture; conflicts about the siting of large dams; conflicts about the social and environmental impacts of unregulated mining. In all these cases, the pressures of urban and industrial development had denied local communities to access the resources necessary to their own livelihood.

In the West, the environmental movement had arisen chiefly due to the desire to protect endangered animal species and natural habitats. In India, however, it arose out of human survival. This was an environmentalism of the poor, which married the concern of social justice on the one hand with ____________________ on the other. It argued that present patterns of resource use disadvantaged local communities and devastated the natural environment.

Back in the 1970s, when the state occupied the commanding heights of the economy, and India was close to the Soviet Union, the activists of Chipko and other such movements were dismissed by their critics as agents of Western imperialism. Slowly, however, the sheer persistence of these protests forced the state into making some concessions. In 1980, a Department of Environment was established at the Centre, becoming a full-fledged Ministry a few years later. New laws to control pollution and to protect natural forests were formed. There was even talk of restoring community systems of water and forest management. Meanwhile, journalists and scholars had begun more systematically studying the residue (I) of environmental degradation on social life across India. In 1991 the Indian economy started to liberalise. The dismantling of state controls was in part welcome, as it had stifled innovation and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, the votaries of liberalisation mounted an even more savage attack on the environment than did the proponents of state socialism.

Options

A

Personification of natural elements as the divine spirits in Indian civilization

B

Deprivation of local communities from the basic necessities of livelihood.

C

Awareness of environmental consequences on living beings’ lives

D

The belief that leading a rudimentary lifestyle is the rightful way of living

Show Answer

Correct Answer :

Option B

Deprivation of local communities from the basic necessities of livelihood.

Solution :

The correct answer is: Deprivation of local communities from the basic necessities of livelihood.


Step-by-step Explanation:

1. Analyze the Question: The question asks for the common reason underlying every environmental protest in India based on the provided passage.

2. Examine the Passage: In the first paragraph, the text states:
"In all these cases, the pressures of urban and industrial development had denied local communities to access the resources necessary to their own livelihood."
Furthermore, the second paragraph highlights that environmentalism in India "arose out of human survival" and represents an "environmentalism of the poor."

3. Evaluate the Options:
- Option 1 mentions personification of natural elements as divine spirits, which is not stated in the passage as a reason for the protests.
- Option 2 mentions "Deprivation of local communities from the basic necessities of livelihood," which directly matches the statement that urban/industrial development denied local communities access to resources necessary for their survival and livelihood.
- Option 3 and Option 4 discuss general awareness and leading a rudimentary lifestyle, which are not the primary underlying causes specified in the text.

4. Conclusion: Therefore, the core reason for these environmental movements in India was the denial/deprivation of local communities from resources required for their basic livelihood.

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