Population growth and environment linkages – UGC NET Question

Statement D is clearly wrong because population growth does affect environmental quality and must be considered in environmental planning. Statements A, B and C are conceptually correct as they highlight how rapid population growth and high consumption patterns increase pressure on resources and ecological footprint. Since only statement D is incorrect, the combination identifying D only as wrong is the correct answer. No other combination isolates the single wrong statement accurately.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it suggests that statement A alone is wrong. In reality, statement A is correct since rapid population growth does indeed increase pressure on natural resources such as land and water. Misclassifying a correct statement as wrong makes this option unacceptable.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it identifies D only as the wrong statement. Statement D wrongly claims that population growth has no relationship with environmental quality, which contradicts well-established demographic–environmental linkages. As A, B and C are correct and D is the only incorrect statement, this combination matches the question requirement.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it treats both A and D as wrong. While D is wrong, A is correct and supported by many environmental studies showing that rapid population growth exacerbates resource scarcity. Including a correct statement in the set of wrong statements makes this option invalid.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it groups B, C and D together as wrong statements. In fact, statements B and C are correct because they emphasise the benefits of population stabilisation and highlight the high ecological footprint of affluent consumption patterns. Only statement D is wrong, so including B and C in the wrong set makes the option incorrect.