Q27·CSAT · Prelims 2026

RC — Environmental Regulations Context

Reading Comp.RC — Fact vs OpinionReading Comprehension● Easy

Question

[PASSAGE] The key source of the battle for clean skies and clear lungs is the fuel we burn-from household Chulhas to the thermal power plants. In most cases, it is biomass or coal. The Supreme Court banned the use of pet coke the dirtiest of such fuels. The Delhi Government banned the use of coal, which was later extended to the entire National Capital Region. It was also agreed that the thermal power plants would clean up or shut down. Action on this has been patchy to say the least. The lesson from the transition to CNG is that people need alternatives for a ban to be effective. When diesel buses were stopped, CNG supply had to be assured. It also had to be feasible in terms of cost. The Supreme Court agreed that fiscal measures were needed to keep clean fuel cheaper than dirty fuel. Now even as coal is banned, the price of natural gas makes industry uncompetitive.

[QUESTION] Which of the following statements is/are correct?

1Thermal power stations in Delhi were required to summarily shut down.

2CNG supplies had to be assured once diesel vehicles were prohibited from plying.

3The Supreme Court banned the use of coal across the National Capital Region.

Options

1 and 2

3 only

2 only

Answer

2 and 3

Explanation

Let us check each statement carefully against the text details [cite: 3937, 3938, 3939, 3942]:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The text states it was agreed that thermal plants would 'clean up or shut down', meaning they had an option to reduce emissions rather than facing a summary shutdown mandate .

Statement 2 is correct: The text explicitly notes that 'When diesel buses were stopped, CNG supply had to be assured' .

Statement 3 is incorrect: The passage attributes the coal ban across the National Capital Region to the 'Delhi Government' (whose ban was later extended), while noting that the Supreme Court explicitly banned pet coke[cite: 3937, 3938]. This is an entity swap trap.

Since only statement 2 is correct, option (c) is the required choice.

Descriptive details must be carefully tracked to avoid falling for entity swap traps, where actions taken by local governments are mistakenly attributed to courts.

Answer: (c).

Question details

Year

2026

Paper

CSAT

Question

Q27

Section

Comprehension

Sub-topic

RC — Fact vs Opinion

Type

Reading Comprehension

Difficulty

Easy

Source hint

RC passage — regulatory timelines

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