UPSC Civil Services Examination — Environment & Ecology (Prelims GS and Mains GS-III) · India · Union Public Service Commission
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersUPSC Civil Services Examination — Environment & Ecology (Prelims GS and Mains GS-III) is a government recruitment exam run by Union Public Service Commission, for candidates in India. Prelims: two objective papers (GS Paper I and CSAT). Mains: nine descriptive papers. Interview.
Official site: upsc.gov.in.
We have not been able to confirm these details against the exam body's own specification, so fees, dates and pass marks are left out on purpose. Check the current format, eligibility, fees and dates on the official site.
The full EIA process as a practitioner runs it: screening, scoping, baseline studies, impact prediction, significance, mitigation hierarchy, environmental management plans, public consultation, review and follow-up, plus SEA and social impact assessment. The Agribusiness subject natural-resource-environmental-economics and the Agricultural Engineering waste subject each carry a one-unit introduction to EIA; this is the full subject.
Our 17 UPSC Civil Services Examination questions in this subject: 6 easy, 10 medium, 1 hard, across 9 units.
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
These 10 were written to UPSC Civil Services Examination and are not shown on any other exam's page.
Which principle of the 1992 Rio Declaration concerns environmental impact assessment?
B. Principle 17
Principle 17 calls for EIA for activities likely to have significant adverse impacts. Principle 10 concerns public participation and access to information, 15 the precautionary approach and 16 the polluter-pays principle.
Under India's EIA Notification 2006, what distinguishes Category B1 from B2 projects?
C. B1 projects need an EIA report and appraisal; B2 projects are exempted from the EIA report
Screening by the SEAC sorts Category B projects into B1, which require an EIA (and usually a public hearing), and B2, which do not need an EIA report. Both are state-level; geography and hearing counts are not the criterion.
Which UNECE convention deals with environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context?
D. The Espoo Convention (1991)
Espoo covers transboundary EIA; its Kyiv Protocol (2003) covers SEA. Aarhus concerns access to information, participation and justice; Basel hazardous waste movements; Ramsar wetlands.
How many rungs does Arnstein's ladder of citizen participation (1969) have?
C. Eight
Arnstein's ladder has eight rungs grouped into non-participation (manipulation, therapy), tokenism (informing, consultation, placation) and citizen power (partnership, delegated power, citizen control).
On Arnstein's ladder, 'consultation' falls into which group?
B. Tokenism
Informing, consultation and placation are tokenism: people are heard but lack power to ensure their views are acted on. Citizen power covers partnership, delegated power and citizen control.
Under India's EIA Notification 2006, what are the notice and completion periods for a public hearing?
C. At least 30 days' notice, completed within 45 days of the request
The Notification requires public notice of at least 30 days and completion of the hearing within 45 days of the request; proceedings are video-recorded and minutes forwarded. The other periods are not the rule.
In India, appeals against environmental clearances are heard by which body?
C. The National Green Tribunal
The National Green Tribunal, set up under the NGT Act 2010, hears appeals against environmental clearances. CPCB is a regulator; the others are unrelated.
A river valley has dozens of small hydropower projects, each assessed separately. Which assessment is most needed?
A. A basin-level cumulative or carrying-capacity study
A cascade of projects can dewater long reaches and block fish migration; basin-level cumulative or carrying-capacity studies, sometimes ordered by courts, address this. Project-by-project or unrelated studies do not.
Which statement about SEA in India is accurate?
D. No general legal requirement exists; SEA has been used through sectoral and donor-supported studies
India has no general statutory SEA requirement; SEAs have been done for some sectors and programmes, often with donor support. The EIA Notification covers projects; India is not bound by EU law; the NGT is a tribunal.
Which Indian law requires a social impact assessment for most land acquisition?
B. The land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement act of 2013
The 2013 land acquisition act requires SIA, public hearings and expert review before most acquisitions. The other acts deal with environmental protection, forest diversion and biodiversity.
This plan follows where our questions actually fall, so the time goes where the marks are likely to be. It is our reading of the syllabus, not the exam body's weighting.
Read the manual chapters for these first and do every worked question you can find on them.
Aim for one sitting per unit, then mixed questions across them.
Learn the definitions, classifications and standard numbers; these units are more often recalled than worked.
Come back to these after a first pass, untimed, and read every explanation, including for the options you rejected.
Do these early in revision so they are fast on the day.
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