With reference to India’s Desert National Park, which of the following statements are correct?

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Two districts and the bustard are right; people do live inside it.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ CORRECT It spreads over Jaisalmer and Barmer districts of Rajasthan.

2. ✗ WRONG Dozens of villages and hamlets lie inside the park.

3. ✓ CORRECT It is the main stronghold of the Great Indian Bustard.

The idea

Desert National Park protects the Thar: sand dunes, rocky ground and dry grassland. The Thar is the most densely populated desert in the world, and the park was drawn over an area where people already lived. Their rights were never fully settled, so villages and herders remain inside.

Dry grassland of Jaisalmer and Barmer → Home of the great Indian bustard → Herders and villages share the same land → Bird nests on open ground → Power lines are now the biggest killer

The trap

A “National Park” sounds people-free. Desert NP has many villages inside.

Elimination technique

Statement 2 says there is “no human habitation” inside. Absolute claims usually mark the false statement in Environment PYQs. That leaves only option (c).

Also know

The great Indian bustard is Critically Endangered, with fewer than 150 left, almost all in Rajasthan, and is the State bird of Rajasthan. It has poor frontal vision and flies into overhead power lines; the Supreme Court has ordered steps on lines in its habitat. A breeding centre runs at Sam near Jaisalmer. The park also has a fossil wood site at Akal.