Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
From the window of a bus on the road to Jaisalmer, the Thar can look empty: scrub, sand, a few goats, and rows of tall pylons running to the horizon. This open land is the main home of the Great Indian Bustard, one of the heaviest flying birds. Perhaps 150 are left in the wild, and most of them live here.
The bird’s trouble lies partly in its build. Its eyes are set on the sides of its head, so it sees poorly straight ahead, and a body that heavy cannot swerve in a hurry. Flying low over the scrub, it often notices a wire too late. Scientists count these crashes into power lines among the main reasons the bird is dying out.
In 2021 the Supreme Court ordered that power lines in the bird’s key areas be laid underground where possible, and fitted with bright bird diverters elsewhere. Energy companies objected, and their case was not a weak one. The same desert is among India’s best sites for solar and wind farms, and burying high-voltage lines over long distances is costly and sometimes not practical. The court later changed its order and asked experts to decide where burying was truly needed.
Wildlife officials collect eggs from the wild and hatch them at breeding centres near Jaisalmer. A female usually lays a single egg, so each chick matters. The programme is meant to buy time. But a chick raised in a centre must one day be let out into the same sky. And the wires are still going up.
Which of the following best expresses the central argument of the passage?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Saving the bustard depends on settling its clash with power lines that serve real needs.
The passage shows a rare bird and the power lines that kill it, and it treats both sides fairly.
- Crashes into power lines are “among the main reasons the bird is dying out”.
- The writer also says the energy companies’ case “was not a weak one”. The desert is one of India’s best places for solar and wind farms.
- Breeding chicks does not end the problem, because they must be let out into “the same sky”. So the bird’s future turns on how this clash is settled.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Energy companies, by resisting the court’s order, are mainly to blame for the bustard’s decline. — Incorrect. Contradicted: The writer does not blame the companies. Their objection is called “not a weak one”.
Option 2: Hatching eggs at breeding centres is now the surest way to bring the bustard back. — Incorrect. Contradicted: The programme is only meant to “buy time”. The chicks still face the same wires once they are let out.
Option 3: The bustard’s poor vision straight ahead is what has made it so rare in the Thar. — Incorrect. Too narrow: Poor vision is only one point in the second paragraph. The writer says the trouble lies “partly” in the bird’s build.