The characteristics of clustered settlements are:

(A) They represent a compact or closely built-up area of houses.
(B) The general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms.
(C) The closely built-up area and its intervening streets present some recognisable pattern or geometric shape.
(D) These units are locally called panna, para, palli, nagla and dhani.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

(A), (B) and (C) only

The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (B) and (C) only

(A) They represent a compact or closely built-up area of houses. Correct. 
(B) The general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms.Correct. 
(C) The closely built-up area and its intervening streets present some recognisable pattern or geometric shape.Correct. 

(D) These units are locally called panna, para, palli, nagla and dhani. False. These are the examples of Hamleted Settlements.

"Clustered Settlements:  The clustered rural settlement is a compact or closely built up area of houses. In this type of village the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns and pastures. The closely built-up area and its  intervening streets present some recognisable pattern or geometric shape, such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc. Such settlements are generally found in fertile alluvial plains and in the northeastern states. Sometimes, people live in compact village for security or defence reasons, such as in the Bundelkhand region of central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan, scarcity of water has necessitated compact settlement for maximum utilisation of available water resources."

Hamleted Settlements: Sometimes settlement is fragmented into several units physically separated from each other bearing a common name. These units are locally called panna, para, palli, nagla, dhani, etc. in various parts of the country. This segmentation of a large village is often motivated by social and ethnic factors. Such villages are more frequently found in the middle and lower Ganga plain, Chhattisgarh and lower valleys of the Himalayas.