A familiar sequence of events unfolds in the National Capital Region before the advent of winter. The monsoon retreats, dries the air and the wind drops. The pollution from construction, industry, road transport, hitherto being masked through the year, becomes more visible. However, the period also coincides with a unique practice in northern India where farmers in Punjab, Haryana and eastern Uttar Pradesh, in a bid to hurriedly clear their fields of rice straw to make space for wheat, set fire to the chaff. This long-standing practice is now facing criticism because of its emerging link to Delhi’s noxious air quality. The stubble smoke carries over into Delhi through long-range wind transport. Finally, the third element during the season is Deepavali and the bursting of crackers. The season is also marked by more social gatherings such as weddings or related celebrations that again see a demand for crackers. While there is an official ban on crackers, except so-called ’green crackers’ that are not widely available, the additional smoke from all of these add to the bad air, spiking air quality meters into the ’very poor’ and ’severe’ categories. This provokes a public outcry and concerns from the Supreme Court of India and a harried response from the Government that pushes for restrictions on free movement and construction. Invariably, the weather improves and all is forgiven. The recur rent tragedy of addressing the problem of air pollution in Delhi is that it invariably descends into a blame game. The Centre blames the Delhi government, because it belongs to a different political dispensation, which in turn quite conveniently blames farmers in Punjab. What is never addressed head-on is that the air pollution crisis is not a problem that can be solved overnight. The lockdown last year provided compelling evidence that taking vehicles off the road and a cessation in industrial and construction activity led to clearer skies. Source apportionment studies by various institutions have shown that the contribution of stubble burning varies significantly, from as low as 4% on some days in October-November to as much as 40%. But the running of power plants and construction are also necessary activities that cannot be shut at a moment’s notice. The move to ban the entry of trucks too is not any more effective than waiting for the wind to blow over, and has consequences for the economy. The way for ward is to view winter air pollution as a natural disaster and target root causes. Road dust is the dominant source of particulate matter and the most significant impediment to clean air, and unfortunately the least amenable to an easy fix. The emphasis must be on concerted and consistent efforts, and not annual blame games.
What is the main message from the passage?
Show Hint
- The fire crackers should be completely banned as they are not necessary and one of the sources of pollution.
- Close down only main polluting industries like we done during lockdown.
- Take a comprehensive effort to address the root cause of pollution rather than blaming each other.
- Take punitive action against farmers who burns the stubble which can vary from as low as 4% on some days in October-November to as much as 40%.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The question asks for the main message or central argument of the passage regarding air pollution in Delhi.
Step 2: Synthesizing the Passage's Argument
The passage describes the various causes of winter pollution (industry, transport, stubble burning, crackers). It then criticizes the typical response, which it calls a "blame game" where different parties blame each other instead of finding a real solution. The passage concludes by stating the "way forward": "target root causes" and that the "emphasis must be on concerted and consistent efforts, and not annual blame games." This points to a need for a comprehensive, collaborative, and long-term approach.
Step 3: Evaluating the Options
(A), (B), and (D): These options each focus on a single cause of pollution (crackers, industries, farmers). While the passage mentions these, its main point is that focusing on just one aspect and blaming one group is the problem. These options represent the fragmented approach the author is criticizing.
(C) Take a comprehensive effort to address the root cause of pollution rather than blaming each other: This option perfectly captures the central message. It reflects the author's critique of the "blame game" and the call for "concerted efforts" to "target root causes."
Step 4: Final Answer
The overarching theme of the passage is the failure of the "blame game" and the need for a holistic, root-cause-focused solution. Option (C) is the only one that encapsulates this main message.
According to the passage, winter air pollution should be viewed as a...
Show Hint
- Manmade disaster
- Natural disaster
- Problem that can be solved overnight
- Environmental problem
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The question asks how the passage suggests winter air pollution should be perceived or framed.
Step 2: Locating the Specific Recommendation in the Passage
The passage contains a direct recommendation on how to view the issue. It states: "The way forward is to view winter air pollution as a natural disaster and target root causes."
Step 3: Analyzing the Options
(A) Manmade disaster: While the causes are manmade (pollution), the passage specifically suggests viewing it as a natural disaster to change the response approach.
(B) Natural disaster: This directly matches the phrase used in the passage as the recommended "way forward." The author suggests adopting this perspective to foster a more serious and less blame-oriented response, similar to how societies respond to earthquakes or floods.
(C) Problem that can be solved overnight: This is explicitly contradicted by the passage, which states, "...the air pollution crisis is not a problem that can be solved overnight."
(D) Environmental problem: This is a general and true statement, but the passage proposes a more specific and strategic viewpoint. The author's unique suggestion is to frame it as a "natural disaster."
Step 4: Final Answer
The passage explicitly recommends viewing winter air pollution as a "natural disaster" to improve the way it is managed. Therefore, option (B) is the correct answer.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
During Bentham’s lifetime, revolutions occurred in the American colonies and in France, producing the Bill of Rights and the Declaration des Droits deHomme (Declaration of the Rights of Man), both of which were based on liberty, equality, and self-determination. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto in 1848. Revolutionary movements broke out that year in France, Italy, Austria, Poland, and elsewhere. In addition, the Indus trial Revolution transformed Great Britain and eventually the rest of Europe from an agrarian (farm-based) society into an industrial one, in which steam and coal increased manufacturing production dramatically, changing the nature of work, property ownership, and family. This period also included advances in chemistry, astronomy, navigation, human anatomy, and im munology, among other sciences.
Given this historical context, it is understandable that Bentham used reason and science to explain human behaviour. His ethical system was an attempt to quantify happiness and the good so they would meet the conditions of the scientific method. Ethics had to be empirical, quantifiable, verifiable, and reproducible across time and space. Just as science was beginning to understand the workings of cause and effect in the body, so ethics would explain the causal relationships of the mind. Bentham rejected religious authority and wrote a rebuttal to the Declaration of Independence in which he railed against natural rights as “rhetorical nonsense, nonsense upon stilts.” Instead, the fundamental unit of human action for him was utility—solid, certain, and factual.
What is utility? Bentham’s fundamental axiom, which underlies utilitarianism, was that all so cial morals and government legislation should aim for producing the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism, therefore, emphasizes the consequences or ultimate purpose of an act rather than the character of the actor, the actor’s motivation, or the particu lar circumstances surrounding the act. It has these characteristics: (1) universality, because it applies to all acts of human behaviour, even those that appear to be done from altruistic mo tives; (2) objectivity, meaning it operates beyond individual thought, desire, and perspective; (3) rationality, because it is not based in metaphysics or theology; and (4) quantifiability in its reliance on utility.- CLAT PG - 2026
- Legal Studies
- Reading Comprehension
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights”.
This statement, in spite of literal inaccuracy in its every phrase, served the purpose for which it was written. It expressed an aspiration, and it was a fighting slogan. In order that slogans may serve their purpose, it is necessary that they shall arouse strong, emotional belief, but it is not at all necessary that they shall be literally accurate. A large part of each human being’s time on earth is spent in declaiming about his “rights,” asserting their existence, complaining of their violation, describing them as present or future, vested or contingent, absolute or conditional, perfect or inchoate, alienable or inalienable, legal or equitable, in rem or in personam, primary or secondary, moral or jural (legal), inherent or acquired, natural or artificial, human or divine. No doubt still other adjectives are available. Each one expresses some idea, but not always the same idea even when used twice by one and the same person.
They all need definition in the interest of understanding and peace. In his table of correlatives, Hohfeld set “right” over against “duty” as its necessary correlative. This had been done num berless times by other men. He also carefully distinguished it from the concepts expressed in his table by the terms “privilege,” “power,” and “immunity.” To the present writer, the value of his work seems beyond question and the practical convenience of his classification is convincing. However, the adoption of Hohfeld’s classification and the correlating of the terms “right” and “duty” do not complete the work of classification and definition.- CLAT PG - 2026
- Legal Studies
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- Cite two evidences from the text to show that Indian youth is adapting itself to the needs of the job market.
- CBSE CLASS XII - 2025
- English Core
- Reading Comprehension
- In the line "it is indeed a single instrument, but it contains an arsenal of tools…", what does the phrase “arsenal of tools” refer to?
- CBSE CLASS XII - 2025
- English Core
- Reading Comprehension
- My Last French Lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn any more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds' eggs or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn't give up and M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
(The Last Lesson)- CBSE CLASS XII - 2025
- English Core
- Reading Comprehension
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Conclusions: I. Mathematics is not needed in Sociology.
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