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UPSC Prelims 1984 · Environment · Nature’s Machinery
Silent Valley Project has been abandoned for
- (a) Political reasons
- (b) Ecological reasons
- (c) Non-cooperation of Kerala Government
- (d) Millions of people who would become homeless
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (b) Ecological reasons
The Kunthipuzha dam would have flooded an ancient rainforest (home of the lion-tailed macaque). A public campaign led to the project being dropped and the area became a national park in 1984.
The idea
Most protests against dams in India have been about people losing their homes. Silent Valley was different: almost nobody lived there. The argument was about the forest itself, one of the oldest and least disturbed rainforests of the Western Ghats.
Dam planned on the Kunthipuzha → Scientists and citizens campaign to save the forest → Central Government reviews the project → Project abandoned on ecological grounds → National park, 1984
Why the others are wrong
(d) Very few people lived in Silent Valley — the issue was the forest, not displacement.
The trap
(d) fits Narmada or Tehri, not Silent Valley.
Also know
Compare with dams opposed mainly over displacement: Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada and Tehri on the Bhagirathi.
🔒 Silent Valley (Palakkad, Kerala): project dropped, NP 1984; core of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.