SECTION A – READING ( 5 MARKS) Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow- 1 Legends will tell you that flamingos are no ordinary visitors to Kutch. They were the honoured guests of King Lakho and he had forbidden the hunting of flamingos, which came to Kutch from various parts of the world every year to breed. For centuries the region has been a heaven for the migratory bird. Today, Flamingo City, an island in the middle of the Rann of Kutch, known the world over as one of the biggest breeding ground of the Greater Flamingo, is strewn with bodies of hundreds of flamingo chicks. The parents of these chicks have fled from the island due to lack of food. Zooplankton, algae and small fish that these birds survive on are dying due to sudden increase in the salinity of the Rann waters. One can even see dead fish floating. 2. Flamingos need salt-encrusted, damp mud to build nests. The place where they build their nests has to be inaccessible to predatory cats and birds. It should also have sufficient food. The right mix of sweet and brackish water in the Rann is crucial for the proliferation of planktons and algae that the flamingos feed on. Faced with starvation flamingos have fled the island leaving their chicks to fend for themselves. Till date around a thousand flamingos have died. 3.Maharaj Kumar shri Himmat singh ji, a member of the royal family of Kutch and an expert on the birds of Kutch, traces the problem of increased salinity in the Rann water to the construction of dams on rivers that flow into the region. He emphasizes that efforts should be made to ensure that, at least some water flows into the Rann. In fact over the years, the number of flamingos coming to the island have decreased because of the change in salinity of the Rann water. In 1945, Salim Ali, the late ornithologist, had found 5 lakh birds on the island. Since then, the number has not gone above 2.2 lakh. However, the studies carried out on the Flamingo City so far cannot be taken as 100 per cent accurate because very few ornithologists have conducted regular studies on flamingos in the area. The reason: the terrain is so inhospitable that it is simply not possible to visit the place every year. Q1. Answer the following questions – What do legends tell us about flamingos? Why was the region a heaven for the migratory bird? What did Himmat singh Ji recommend to solve the problem of salinity in the region? What is the situation now in The Rann of Kutch? Find words in the passage which mean – i) Rapid increase in number (para 2) ii)Unfriendly (para 3)
Answers
1. Legends tell us that flamingos were no ordinary visitors to Kutch. They were the honoured guests of king Lakha and hunting them was forbidden.
This region was a haven for the migratory birds as hunting was forbidden , food (plankton algae) was plentiful, water wass sweet and brackish, the nests in-accessible to predators and they will left undisturbed to breed.
To solve the salinity of the water himmat Singh ji recommended that fresh water should flow into the rann of Kutch.
The current situation of the Rann of Kutch is the migratory birds are flying away leaving the chicks behind to fend for themselves as the food is insufficient for them.
The term (I)rapidly increase -poliferation
(ii) unfriendly - inhospitable
Answer:
Q1 - Legends tell us that flamingos are not ordinary birds.
Q2- The region was a heaven for flamingos because their hunting was prohibited.
Q3- Himmat Sing ji emphasizes that efforts should
emphasizes that efforts should be made to ensure that, at least some water flows into the Rann. In fact, over the years, the number flamingos coming to the island have decreased because of the
change in the salinity of the Rann water
Q4-Now in Runn of Kutch many flamingos came and their hunting is prohibited.
Explanation: