Which of the following pairs is NOT correctly matched?
- (a)Sona Nadi Wildlife Sanctuary – Pauri Garhwal
- (b)Askote Wildlife Sanctuary – Pithoragarh
- (c)Govind Wildlife Sanctuary – Chamoli Garhwal
- (d)Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary – Almora
Correct — C, Govind Wildlife Sanctuary – Chamoli Garhwal.
Govind Wildlife Sanctuary – Chamoli Garhwal is the mismatched pair. Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary lies in Uttarkashi district, in the upper Tons catchment around the Har Ki Dun valley. It was notified on 1 March 1955 and named after Govind Ballabh Pant.
The other three pairs hold: Sonanadi in Pauri Garhwal, Askot in Pithoragarh, Binsar in Almora. The idea to carry away is Govind means Uttarkashi; Chamoli holds Nanda Devi, the Valley of Flowers and Kedarnath instead.
- (a)Sona Nadi Wildlife Sanctuary – Pauri Garhwal — Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary does lie in Pauri Garhwal district, so this pair is correctly matched and cannot be the answer.
It was notified on 9 January 1987 over 301.18 sq km, carved out of the Kalagarh Forest Division, and became part of Corbett Tiger Reserve in 1991.
It is the right answer to which Uttarakhand sanctuary forms part of Corbett Tiger Reserve, and to a question that places a Corbett-landscape sanctuary in Pauri Garhwal rather than Nainital.
- (b)Askote Wildlife Sanctuary – Pithoragarh — Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary lies in Pithoragarh district, near Didihat, so the pair is correct. Notified in 1986 over 599.93 sq km, it was created to protect the Himalayan musk deer and its habitat.
It is the right answer to which Pithoragarh sanctuary is named for the musk deer; the spelling on the paper (Askote rather than Askot) leaves the district unchanged.
- (d)Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary – Almora — Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary lies in Almora district, so this pair is correctly matched. Notified in 1988 over 45.59 sq km, it protects oak and rhododendron forest around Jhandi Dhar, once a summer seat of the Chand rulers of Kumaon.
It is the right answer to which Almora sanctuary protects Central Himalayan oak forest, or to a question on the Chand rulers' summer capital.
India's protected areas are notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
A wildlife sanctuary is declared by the state government over land of ecological, faunal or floral importance; a national park carries stricter protection, and part of a sanctuary can later be re-notified as a park, as happened at Govind in 1990.
Because a notification names specific forest compartments, a sanctuary has a fixed administrative address, a district or sometimes two. Matching questions test that address, not the sanctuary's fame.
Uttarakhand's protected areas sit on district lines. Uttarkashi holds Gangotri National Park and Govind Pashu Vihar; Chamoli holds Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers national parks and, with Rudraprayag, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Kumaon districts add Askot (Pithoragarh), Binsar (Almora) and the Corbett landscape, where the tiger reserve straddles Nainital and Pauri Garhwal, with Sonanadi on the Pauri side. Placing each name in its district is the whole task.
- Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary lies in Uttarkashi district; it was notified on 1 March 1955 and named after Govind Ballabh Pant.
- In 1990, about 472 sq km of the sanctuary's upper reaches were notified as Govind Pashu Vihar National Park; the combined area is about 958 sq km.
- The Har Ki Dun valley, in the upper Tons catchment, lies inside Govind Pashu Vihar; snow leopard, musk deer, bharal and western tragopan are among its fauna.
- Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary, in Pauri Garhwal, was notified on 9 January 1987 over 301.18 sq km and joined Corbett Tiger Reserve in 1991.
- Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, in Pithoragarh, was notified in 1986 over 599.93 sq km; its nearest town is Didihat.
- Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, in Almora, was notified in 1988 over 45.59 sq km of oak and rhododendron forest around Jhandi Dhar.
- Chamoli district holds Nanda Devi National Park, Valley of Flowers National Park and, shared with Rudraprayag, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, notified in 1972 across Chamoli and Rudraprayag, covers about 975 sq km and also protects the Himalayan musk deer.
- Gangotri National Park also lies in Uttarkashi district, making Uttarkashi the home of two of the state's national parks.
Three pairs hold; Govind belongs to Uttarkashi, so option (c) is the one NOT correctly matched.
- Reading Govind as a Chamoli sanctuary because Chamoli holds Nanda Devi and the Valley of Flowers, the state's World Heritage parks; Govind Pashu Vihar lies further west, in Uttarkashi's Tons valley.
- Doubting Sonanadi – Pauri Garhwal because Corbett National Park itself is listed under Nainital; the tiger reserve spans both districts and Sonanadi is its Pauri Garhwal component.
- Attaching the label 'musk deer sanctuary' to one district: Kedarnath (Chamoli and Rudraprayag) and Askot (Pithoragarh) both carry that purpose, in different districts.
- Treating the paper's spellings Askote and Sona Nadi as unfamiliar places; they are Askot and Sonanadi, and the district facts are unchanged.
The device is a list of sanctuary–district pairs with one deliberately wrong, so the mark depends on knowing the odd one rather than recognising three familiar ones.
The same knowledge can be asked directly (which district holds Govind Pashu Vihar), through a year or area, or through an association such as Corbett Tiger Reserve, the musk deer or the Har Ki Dun valley.
MPPSC_2023_PRE_PaperI_Q582023Same skill of placing a protected area in its administrative unit. That item matched four biosphere reserves to their states through a code; this one places wildlife sanctuaries in districts of a single state and asks for the one wrong pair.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, named after Govind Ballabh Pant, lies in which district of Uttarakhand?
- (a)Chamoli
- (b)Uttarkashi
- (c)Rudraprayag
- (d)Pithoragarh
Answerb — The sanctuary was notified in 1955 in Uttarkashi district, around the Har Ki Dun valley of the Tons catchment.Chamoli holds Nanda Devi and the Valley of Flowers; Rudraprayag shares Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary with Chamoli; Pithoragarh holds Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following pairs (Wildlife Sanctuary – District) is correctly matched?
- (a)Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary – Pithoragarh
- (b)Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary – Almora
- (c)Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary – Pauri Garhwal
- (d)Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary – Uttarkashi
Answerc — Sonanadi lies in Pauri Garhwal as part of Corbett Tiger Reserve.Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary lies in Chamoli and Rudraprayag, not Pithoragarh; Askot is in Pithoragarh, not Almora; Binsar is in Almora, not Uttarkashi.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following wildlife sanctuaries of Uttarakhand forms part of the Corbett Tiger Reserve?
- (a)Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary
- (b)Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary
- (c)Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary
- (d)Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary
Answerb — Sonanadi, carved out of the Kalagarh Forest Division in Pauri Garhwal, became part of Corbett Tiger Reserve in 1991.Binsar is an oak-forest sanctuary in Almora, Askot a musk deer sanctuary in Pithoragarh, and Kedarnath a musk deer sanctuary in Chamoli–Rudraprayag; each lies in a different landscape outside the tiger reserve.