Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

HS 200
Mid-Semester Examination
Date: 22 February 2012 Time: 3.00 – 4.30 PM
Total Marks: 17

Module: Sociology (taught by Prof.D.Parthasarathy)

There are a total of 34 items to be answered. Each item carries 0.5 marks. Question 4 has 5 items and
carries 2.5 marks. There are no negative marks. There is only one correct answer for each item. Please
tick (√) the right answer.
Students caught copying will be given FR grade, and will be reported to the Dean (Academic Affairs) for
disciplinary action.

1. Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha, in their book “Ecology and Equity”, state that the principal
conflict around environmental issues is between:
A. Ecosystem People and Ecological Refugees
B. Ecosystem People and Ecosystem Refugees
C. Ecological Refugees and Omnivores
D. Ecosystem People and Omnivores

2. According to Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha, Ecosystem people are:

A. those who depend on the natural environments of their own locality to meet their material needs
B. those who depend on natural environments of other countries’ localities to meet their material needs
C. those who devour everything produced all over the earth
D. those who move to cities to live in slums

3. Guha and Gadgil show that Omnivores corner the benefits of economic progress at the cost of the vast
majority of population who are ecosystem people and ecological refugees. The omnivores constitute:
A. One fifth of the population
B. One tenth of the population
C. One sixth of the population
D. None of the above

4. The campaign to stop Coca Cola’s depletion of community water resources and groundwater pollution
took place in:
A. Uttarakhand
B. Plachimada
C. Dakshina Kannada
D. Mullaperiyar

5. Waangari Maathai’s name is associated with the:

A. Green Revolution
B. Green Belt movement
C. Narmada Bachao Andolan
D. Movement against large dams

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 6. The table below gives the Omnivore-Ecosystem People binary. For each feature of Omnivores, there is
a corresponding feature or binary for Ecosystem people; these have been jumbled up. Match the binaries
by writing the answers in the last column. The first answer has been done for you (2.5 marks)

Omnivores Ecosystem People Matching Answer

A. Global, National, Local A. Subsistence Economy A:C

Reach

B. Surplus Economy B. Is seen as C.

Traditional/Authentic
C. Urban/Cosmopolitan C. Local Reach
D. Sees itself as D. Close Relationship with
Modern/Scientific Resource Base

E. Upper & Middle Classes E. Rural/Rooted

F. Separate from Resource F. Peasants, Dalits, Adivasis

Base

7. Complete this slogan of the Chipko Movement - 'What do the forests bear? Soil, water, and
___________________'.
A. Trees
B. Forests
C. Pure Air
D. Pure Earth

8. The Adivasi Samkrashana Sangham in 2002 started a campaign against the:

A. Silent Valley Project
B. Tehri Dam Project
C. Coca Cola Plant
D. Vedanta Mining Project

9. Groundwater basins, irrigation systems, forests, grazing lands, lakes and ponds, rivers – these types of
resources used and managed by multiple actors are termed as:
A. Private Common Resources
B. Property Resources
C. Common Pool Resources
D. Government Pool Resources

10. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was a pioneer in exposing the:
A. The human health and environmental consequences of chemical or synthetic pesticides
B. The effects of greenhouse gases on global warming
C. The pollution of river waters due to industrial effluents
D. None of the above

11. The “free rider” problem contributes to the “Tragedy of the Commons” according to:
A. Elinor Ostrom
B.Gareth Hardin
C. Jared Diamond

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D. Madhav Gadgil

12. According to Elinor Ostrom, ________________________ refer to an “element or condition that

helps to account for the success of institutions in sustaining the common-pool resource and gaining the
compliance of generation after generation of appropriators to the rules in use”.
A. Governance Principles
B. Design Principles
C. Resource Principles
D. Environmental Principles

13. In the list of design principles elaborated by Elinor Ostrom, _______________________ refers to the
appropriation, provision, monitoring, enforcement, conflict resolution, and governance activities that are
organized in multiple layers.
A. Nested Enterprises
B. Congruence
C. Collective Choice Arrangements
D. Clearly Defined Boundaries

14. Which one of the following is NOT a design principle (as developed by Elinor Ostrom)?
A. Graduated Sanctions
B. Nested Enterprises
C. Collective Choice Arrangements
D. Constitutionally Supported provisions

15. In the 1600s in Japan, the Tokugawa shoguns responded to the crisis of deforestation through several
measures. Which of these was NOT one of the measures?
A. Fuel efficient stoves and heaters
B. Turning to coal as a source of energy
C. Developing and managing plantation forests
D. Imposing a tax on wood based construction material

16. Jared Diamond states that the culturally rich and economically prosperous Mayan civilization
collapsed partly due to environmental problems that included deforestation, water management problems
and:
A. Soil Erosion
B. Change of river course
C. Climate Change
D. None of the above

17. Elinor Ostrom believes that the solution to social-ecological system problems lies in:
A. Government or state ownership and management of resources
B. Private ownership and management of resources
C. Common Pool Resource Management
D. Multiplicity of governance and ownership arrangements for resources

18. ‘Omnivores’ include the following groups according to Guha and Gadgil:
A. Peasants and farmers
B. Farmers and Cattle Grazers
C. Forest dwellers and rural people
D. None of the above

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19. The Chipko movement was sparked off by a government decision to allot a plot of forest area in the
Garhwal Himalayas to:
A. A paper mill
B. A logging company
C. A sports goods company
D. A bio-fuels company

20. In India, since the hydrology of most rivers are monsoon dependent, in the case of multi-purpose
dams like the Sardar Sarovar, their 'purposes' (irrigation, power production and flood-control) conflict
with each other. Assuming this to be true, which one of the following statements is wrong.
A. During the post-monsoon season, if water from a dam is made available for irrigation, it is not possible
to maintain water levels to produce power.
B. Flood control requires the reservoir to be empty in case there is a surfeit during the monsoon. If the
monsoon fails, the reservoir will remain empty and will not fill up.
C. If reservoir levels are maintained for generation of hydro-electric power, less water is available for
irrigation.
D. Flooding can be prevented by maintaining reservoir levels during the post-monsoon period when the
possibility of flooding is greater.

21. Big dams are being de-commissioned in many parts of the world, as they are increasingly being seen
as financially unviable in the long term. The primary reason for this is:
A. The high cost of de-silting reservoirs
B. The high cost of compensation for rehabilitating displaced people
C. The destruction of biodiversity
D. The impact of large dams on climate change

Answer the following two questions based on the OECD Elinor Ostrom documentary (“Elinor Ostrom on
CPRs”)
22. Difference between ___________________ or not is a difference between common pool resources
and public goods.
A. Subtractability
B. Exclusion
C. Inclusion
D. Property rights

23. Common Pool Resources is used to refer to a wide diversity of resources where it is hard to:
A. Exclude people from them
B. Manage them in a sustainable way
C. Regenerate them
D. None of the above

Answer the following question based on the cartoon documentary – “The Commons”.
24. The idea behind the commons is that:
A. The advantage of one person is also the advantage of another
B. The advantage of one person is the disadvantage of another
C. The advantage of one person is both the advantage and disadvantage of another
D. The advantage of one person has no implication for another

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Answer the following question based on the documentary – “The Commons – FES and Amar Kanwar”.
25. Common Property Resources contribute about __________________ annually to the incomes of poor
Indian households.
A. US $ 5 Billion
B. US $ 5.5 Billion
C. US $ 4 Billion
D. US $ 4.5 Billion

Answer the following two questions based on the documentary – “On the Fence: Chipko Movement”.
26. The first major destruction of Himalayan forests took place during the colonial period as trees had to
be cut on a large scale to:
A. Build palatial bungalows for British officials
B. Export wood to Britain
C. Expand the railway and road network in India
D. Clear areas for agricultural cultivation

27. The people in the Alaknanda valley took a decision not to permit any more cutting of trees after
seeing the:
A. Destructive effects of the flooding of the Alaknanda river in 1970
B. Adverse effects of drought in 1971
C. Destructive effects of the Earthquake in 1969
D. Consequences of cutting trees for global warming

Answer the following two questions based on the documentary – “Ajab Kahani – Struggle for Forest
Rights”.
28. As per the Indian Forest Act of 1927, Bamboo is considered as ______________, whereas, as per
Botanical Science, Bamboo is a type of _______________.
A. Grass, Timber
B, Timber, Grass
C. Shrub, Grass
D. Grass, Shrub

29. Lekha-Mendha village in Maharashtra was the first village in India to get community rights over
forest resources under the
A. Indian Forest Act
B. Environment Protection Act
C. Forest Rights Act
D. Panchayati Raj Act