UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Unplanned slums often arise when rapid urbanisation outpaces formal housing and infrastructure provision. Residents typically lack secure tenure, safe water, sewers and organised waste collection. As a result, overcrowding, open drains, makeshift toilets and uncollected garbage are common, creating health and environmental hazards. Thus, the combination of overcrowding, poor sanitation and solid waste accumulation is the environmental problem most closely associated with such settlements, making Option C correct.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because high per capita green space and excellent waste management are the opposite of typical slum conditions. Slum improvement programmes specifically target deficits in these services.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect; adequate piped water and efficient sewage networks are characteristics of well-serviced urban neighbourhoods, not of informal slums.

Option C:
Option C is correct as it recognises that environmental quality in slums is shaped by inadequate services and high density. These conditions contribute to water-borne diseases, vector breeding and local pollution.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect as it describes a scenario of low population density and abundant public parks, which rarely applies to slum areas that usually occupy small areas with large populations and limited open space.

Slums are characterised by overcrowding,insecure tenure and inadequate access to basic services like water and sanitation. They emerge when urbanisation outpaces formal housing and infrastructure provision. The stem’s description of unplanned settlements lacking basic services corresponds directly to slums. Therefore this is the correct term.

Option A:
Suburbs are residential areas on the outskirts of cities,which may have good infrastructure and planned layouts. They are not defined by lack of services or informality,so they do not match the conditions described in the question.

Option B:
Gated communities are typically well planned residential enclaves designed for higher income groups. They usually have better than average access to services and security,which is the opposite of what the stem indicates.

Option C:
Slums are often situated on marginal lands and can be highly vulnerable to environmental hazards such as floods and landslides. Their growth reflects both urban poverty and inadequate planning,exactly as the question suggests.

Option D:
Exurbs are low density settlements beyond the suburbs,often inhabited by commuters. They are not necessarily informal or service deprived,so this term does not fit the scenario in the stem.

Waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid spread mainly through ingestion of water contaminated with human or animal waste. In crowded settlements, breaking this transmission route requires reliable access to microbiologically safe drinking water and effective removal and treatment of sewage. When these systems function together, they significantly reduce pathogen loads in the environment and improve public health outcomes.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because individual bottled water use by a few does not address community-wide contamination and is often unaffordable; it leaves systemic sanitation problems unsolved.

Option B:
Option B is correct as it tackles both the supply of safe water and the safe disposal of excreta, which is the foundation of modern public health engineering.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect since storing wastewater in open containers creates breeding grounds for disease vectors and increases exposure risks.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because open defecation near water bodies directly contributes to faecal contamination and is a major cause of waterborne disease outbreaks.