Which of the following pairs is NOT correctly matched?
- (a)Govind Wildlife Sanctuary – 1955
- (b)Valley of Flowers – 1982
- (c)Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary – 1979
- (d)Askote Wildlife Sanctuary – 1986
Correct — C, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary – 1979.
Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary – 1979 is the pair that fails. The sanctuary was notified on 21 January 1972, spread over Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts, and at about 975 sq km it is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Uttarakhand. Its year is 1972, seven years earlier than the option prints.
The other three pairs hold: Govind Pashu Vihar was set up in 1955, the Valley of Flowers was notified as a national park in 1982, and Askot followed in 1986. With three pairs checked correct, the mismatch is Kedarnath.
The idea to carry away: Kedarnath's year is 1972, the same year the Wildlife (Protection) Act was passed. It is also the older of Uttarakhand's two musk deer sanctuaries; Askot, the younger, came fourteen years later.
- (a)Govind Wildlife Sanctuary – 1955 — This pair is correct as printed, so it cannot be the odd one out. Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarkashi district was established on 1 March 1955 and takes its name from Govind Ballabh Pant. It is the right answer to the oldest wildlife sanctuary of Uttarakhand.
A separate Govind National Park was carved out of the sanctuary in 1990. A pair reading 'Govind National Park – 1955' would be a mismatch, but the option names the sanctuary, whose year 1955 is right.
- (b)Valley of Flowers – 1982 — Correct as printed. The Valley of Flowers in Chamoli district was notified as a national park in 1982. The pair gives only a name and a year, so being a national park rather than a sanctuary creates no mismatch.
It is the right answer to the year the Valley of Flowers became a national park.
Its World Heritage status came later and in two steps: Nanda Devi National Park was inscribed in 1988, and the Valley of Flowers was added to that property as an extension in 2005. Neither of those years is 1982.
- (d)Askote Wildlife Sanctuary – 1986 — Correct as printed. Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in Pithoragarh district, about 600 sq km, dates from 1986 and, like Kedarnath, was created chiefly for the Himalayan musk deer. It is the right answer to Uttarakhand's musk deer sanctuary in Pithoragarh, notified in 1986.
Sharing a purpose with Kedarnath does not mean sharing a year. Askot is the younger of the two sanctuaries by fourteen years, and it is the youngest of the four protected areas in this question.
Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, a state government notifies an area as a wildlife sanctuary or a national park. The notification year then becomes a fixed attribute of that protected area, alongside its district and the species it was created to protect, and a question can test any of the three.
A national park carries stricter protection than a sanctuary, and one can be carved out of the other: Govind National Park (1990) came out of the Govind Pashu Vihar sanctuary (1955). Govind's sanctuary even predates the Act, while Kedarnath was notified in the Act's own year.
Uttarakhand's protected areas run from Corbett, India's first national park (1936), through sanctuaries and parks notified between the 1950s and the 1980s. Several are high-altitude sites in Garhwal and Kumaon created for Himalayan species such as the musk deer and the snow leopard, or for alpine flora.
The four names here span both divisions: Govind Pashu Vihar (Uttarkashi), Kedarnath (Chamoli and Rudraprayag) and the Valley of Flowers (Chamoli) lie in Garhwal, and Askot (Pithoragarh) in Kumaon. Knowing year, district and purpose for each turns a printed pair into a claim you can check.
- Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary was notified on 21 January 1972 across Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts and covers about 975 sq km.
- Kedarnath is also called Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary; it was created chiefly to protect the Himalayan musk deer and runs a captive breeding centre for it.
- Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarkashi was established on 1 March 1955 and is named after Govind Ballabh Pant.
- Govind National Park was carved out of the Govind Pashu Vihar sanctuary in 1990.
- The Valley of Flowers in Chamoli was notified as a national park in 1982; Frank Smythe's party gave it the name in 1931.
- Nanda Devi National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988; the Valley of Flowers was added to that property in 2005.
- Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in Pithoragarh was notified in 1986, covers about 600 sq km, and was also set up for the Himalayan musk deer.
Three pairs carry their true year; Kedarnath's is shifted seven years forward, so option (c) is the mismatch.
- Kedarnath and Askot were both created for the musk deer; the shared purpose invites treating their years as a pair, but they are 1972 and 1986.
- 1979 sits close to the Valley of Flowers' 1982 and reads as a plausible late-1970s date; Kedarnath belongs to 1972.
- Govind has two dates, sanctuary 1955 and national park 1990; the option names the sanctuary, so 1955 is the right year.
- The Valley of Flowers is a national park, not a sanctuary, but the option pairs a name with a year; category is not what is being tested.
The four protected areas appear as name–year pairs with one year nudged, as a chronological ordering (1955, 1972, 1982, 1986), or as name–district and name–species matches.
In this item the wrong pair was built by moving Kedarnath's year seven years forward, close to the Valley of Flowers' 1982, rather than to an obviously wrong decade. Checking each year independently, rather than by feel, is what separates the pairs.
MPPSC_2023_PRE_PaperI_Q582023Same device of matching protected areas to an attribute, but MPPSC pairs four biosphere reserves with their states across India and asks for a code; here one state's sanctuaries and a park are paired with notification years and the single mismatch must be found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following pairs (protected area – district) is correctly matched?
- (a)Askot Wildlife Sanctuary – Chamoli
- (b)Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary – Uttarkashi
- (c)Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary – Pithoragarh
- (d)Valley of Flowers National Park – Uttarkashi
Answerb — Govind Pashu Vihar lies in Uttarkashi district. Askot is in Pithoragarh, not Chamoli; Kedarnath lies in Chamoli and Rudraprayag, not Pithoragarh; the Valley of Flowers is in Chamoli, not Uttarkashi. - practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the following in chronological order of their notification, earliest first: 1. Askot Wildlife Sanctuary 2. Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary 3. Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary 4. Valley of Flowers National Park
- (a)2, 3, 4, 1
- (b)3, 2, 4, 1
- (c)2, 4, 3, 1
- (d)2, 3, 1, 4
Answera — Govind Pashu Vihar 1955, Kedarnath 1972, Valley of Flowers 1982, Askot 1986. Option (b) puts Kedarnath before Govind; (c) puts the Valley of Flowers before Kedarnath; (d) puts Askot before the Valley of Flowers. - practice — not a real PYQ
Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary was established primarily to protect which of the following?
- (a)Snow leopard
- (b)Himalayan musk deer
- (c)Himalayan tahr
- (d)Asiatic elephant
Answerb — the sanctuary is also known as Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary and runs a musk deer breeding centre.The snow leopard is tied to Govind Pashu Vihar's Snow Leopard Project; the Himalayan tahr occurs in Kedarnath but was not its founding purpose; the Asiatic elephant belongs to Terai parks such as Rajaji and Corbett.