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HCS (Haryana)Stage 2: Main Written Examination
Environment: Conservation, Pollution, Degradation and Environmental Impact Assessment
What the official syllabus says
General Studies III (Main Written Examination, Paper V):
- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Topics in detail
Ecology basics
- Ecosystem: structure and function, food chains and webs, energy flow, nutrient cycles
- Biodiversity: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity; endemism; biodiversity hotspots in India
- Threats: habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution, climate change
Conservation
- In-situ conservation: national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation and community reserves, biosphere reserves
- Ex-situ conservation: zoos, seed and gene banks, botanical gardens, captive breeding
- Project Tiger (1973), Project Elephant (1992) and other species programmes
- Wetlands and the Ramsar Convention
- Forests: Indian forest policy, joint forest management, compensatory afforestation (CAMPA)
- Laws: Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 as amended in 2023; Biological Diversity Act, 2002; Forest Rights Act, 2006
- Convention on Biological Diversity and its global biodiversity targets
Environmental pollution
- Air pollution: sources, PM2.5 and PM10, the Air Quality Index, National Clean Air Programme (2019)
- Water pollution: sewage, industrial effluent, agricultural runoff; Namami Gange
- Soil pollution: pesticides, heavy metals
- Noise, thermal and radioactive pollution
- Solid waste, plastic waste, e-waste, biomedical and hazardous waste and the rules for each
- Laws and institutions: Water Act, 1974; Air Act, 1981; Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; pollution control boards; National Green Tribunal (2010)
Environmental degradation
- Land degradation and desertification; soil erosion; salinisation
- Deforestation and forest degradation
- Groundwater depletion and contamination
- Loss of wetlands and river ecosystems
- Climate change: greenhouse gases, impacts on India, UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement (2015), India's Nationally Determined Contributions and the net-zero by 2070 goal
- National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008) and its missions; Mission LiFE
Environmental impact assessment
- Meaning and purpose of EIA
- EIA notifications of 1994 and 2006: Category A and Category B projects
- Stages: screening, scoping, public consultation, appraisal
- Environmental clearance, monitoring and compliance
- Criticisms: weak public hearings, poor-quality reports, post-facto clearances
- Strategic environmental assessment and cumulative impact assessment
Other areas to cover
- Eco-sensitive zones around protected areas; Coastal Regulation Zone
- Human-wildlife conflict
- Ozone layer: Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment (2016) on HFCs
- Market tools: carbon credit trading, the Green Credit Programme (2023), extended producer responsibility
Main environmental laws
| Law | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Life (Protection) Act | 1972 | Protected areas and protected species |
| Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act | 1974 | Pollution control boards; water pollution |
| Forest (Conservation) Act | 1980 | Central approval to divert forest land; amended in 2023 |
| Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act | 1981 | Air pollution |
| Environment (Protection) Act | 1986 | Umbrella law; basis of EIA and waste rules |
| Biological Diversity Act | 2002 | Access to biological resources and benefit sharing |
| National Green Tribunal Act | 2010 | Specialised tribunal for environmental cases |
Overlaps
- General Studies I: physical geography, natural resources and climate.
- Haryana: Science, Technology and Environment: the Aravallis, Shivaliks, wetlands, air quality and stubble burning in Haryana.