Comprehension
Down by the sandy banks of the Yamuna River, the men must work quickly. At a little past 12 a.m. one humid night in May, they pull back the black plastic tarp covering three boreholes sunk deep in the ground. They then drag thick hoses toward a queue of 20-odd tanker trucks idling quietly with their headlights turned off. The men work in a team: While one man fits a hose’s mouth over a borehole, another clambers atop a truck at the front of the line and shoves the tube’s opposite end into the empty steel cistern attached to the vehicle’s creaky frame. ‘On kar!’ someone shouts in Hinglish; almost instantly, his orders to ‘switch it on’ are obeyed. Diesel generators, housed in nearby sheds, begin to thrum. Submersible pumps, installed in the borehole’s shafts, drone as they disgorge thousands of gallons of groundwater from deep in the earth. The liquid gushes through the hoses and into the trucks’ tanks. The full trucks don’t wait around. As the hose team continues its work, drivers nose down a rutted dirt path until they reach a nearby highway. There, they turn on their lights and pick up speed, rushing to sell their bounty to factories and hospitals, malls and hotels, apartments and hutments across this city of 25 million. Everything about this business is illegal: the boreholes dug without permission, the trucks operating without permits, the water sold without testing or treatment. ‘Water work is night work,’ says a middle-aged neighbour who lives near the covert pumping station and requested anonymity. ‘Bosses arrange buyers, labour fills tankers, the police look the other way, and the muscle makes sure that no one says nothing to nobody.’ Teams like this one are ubiquitous in Delhi, where the official water supply falls short of the city’s needs. A quarter of Delhi’s households live without a piped-water connection; most of the rest receive water for only a few hours each day. So residents have come to rely on private truck owners—the most visible strands of a dispersed web of city councillors, farmers, real estate agents, and fixers who source millions of gallons of water each day from illicit boreholes, and sell the liquid for profit. The entrenched system has a local moniker: the water-tanker mafia. A 2013 audit found that the city loses 60 percent of its water supply to leakages, theft, and a failure to collect revenue. The mafia defends its work as a community service, but there is a much darker picture of Delhi’s subversive water industry: one of a thriving black market populated by small-time freelance agents who are exploiting a fast-depleting common resource and in turn threatening India’s long-term water security.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from: “At the Mercy of the Water Mafia”, by Aman Sethi, Foreign Policy]
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from: “At the Mercy of the Water Mafia”, by Aman Sethi, Foreign Policy]
Question: 1
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- The water tanker mafia’s operations, though illegal, are justified given the vital service they provide to the people of Delhi.
- The water supplied by the water tanker mafia is potentially contaminated.
- Private truck owners play the most important role in the operations of the water tanker mafia.
- The water supplied by the water tank mafia is meant primarily for residential use.
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The Correct Option is B
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (B):The water supplied by the water tanker mafia is potentially contaminated.
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The question asks which statement can be inferred from the passage. Let's test each option against what the passage actually states.
- The water tanker mafia's operations, though illegal, are justified given the vital service they provide to the people of Delhi: This goes beyond what the passage supports. While the passage does note that the trade calls itself a 'community service,' it immediately follows this with a more critical framing, describing it as a 'thriving black market' that exploits a resource and threatens water security, so the passage does not itself endorse the operations as justified.
- The water supplied by the water tanker mafia is potentially contaminated: This is directly supported by the passage, which states plainly that 'the water sold without testing or treatment' is one of the illegal aspects of the trade. Water that is neither tested nor treated is, by definition, water whose safety is unverified, which is what 'potentially contaminated' means.
- Private truck owners play the most important role in the operations of the water tanker mafia: The passage describes truck owners as 'the most visible strands of a dispersed web' that also includes city councillors, farmers, real estate agents and fixers; being the most visible is not the same as being the most important, and the passage does not rank the roles this way.
- The water supplied by the water tank mafia is meant primarily for residential use: The passage lists buyers as 'factories and hospitals, malls and hotels, apartments and hutments,' a mix of commercial, institutional and residential buyers, not a primarily residential one.
The clearest, most directly textually supported inference is about the safety of the water itself, since the passage explicitly states it is sold without testing or treatment.
Therefore, the correct answer is the water supplied by the water tanker mafia is potentially contaminated.
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Question: 2
Which of the following, used in the passage, suggests that the illegal supply of groundwater is not a recent phenomenon?
Which of the following, used in the passage, suggests that the illegal supply of groundwater is not a recent phenomenon?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Entrenched
- Ubiquitous
- Long-term water security
- Fast-depleting common resource
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The Correct Option is A
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The correct option is (A):Entrenched
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The question asks which listed word or phrase signals that the illegal supply of groundwater has been going on for a long time, rather than being something new. Let's look at each option on its own merits.
- Entrenched: This word describes something that is firmly fixed in place, so deeply established that it has become part of the normal order of things. Calling a practice entrenched is a direct way of saying it has been happening for a long time and is hard to root out. This is exactly the sense of duration the question is looking for.
- Ubiquitous: This word means present everywhere at once. It tells you about how widespread something is, not about how long it has existed. A brand new practice can be ubiquitous just as easily as an old one, so this word does not point to age.
- Long-term water security: This phrase names a goal, the safe and lasting supply of water for the future. It describes what is at stake, not the illegal supply chain itself, so it does not tell us anything about how long the illegal activity has been running.
- Fast-depleting common resource: This phrase describes groundwater itself and the speed at which it is being used up. It is about the resource shrinking, not about the age of the illegal network that draws on it.
Only one option carries a built-in sense of time: a practice that is entrenched is one that has taken root and stayed in place over years. The other three options describe spread, a goal, or a shrinking resource, none of which speaks to duration.
Therefore, the correct answer is Entrenched.
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Question: 3
Which of the following seems to be the author’s main concern in the passage?
Which of the following seems to be the author’s main concern in the passage?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Delhi’s water supply infrastructure does not adequately cater to all its residents.
- The illegal operations of the water tank mafia do not depend on the complicity of a range of actors, including the police and city councillors.
- The petty profiteering of a few actors comes at the immense cost of India’s sustainable access to water.
- All the above
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The Correct Option is C
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The correct option is (C):The petty profiteering of a few actors comes at the immense cost of India’s sustainable access to water.
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The question asks for the author's main concern in the passage. Let's weigh each statement against what a piece exposing an illegal water tanker trade would typically be arguing.
- Delhi's water supply infrastructure does not adequately cater to all its residents: This names a real problem, the gap in piped supply that pushes residents toward tankers in the first place. But it describes a background condition that sets the stage for the illegal trade, it is not the deeper worry the passage is building toward.
- The illegal operations of the water tank mafia do not depend on the complicity of a range of actors, including the police and city councillors: Reporting on water tanker rackets almost always shows the opposite, that such operations survive precisely because local officials, police, and councillors look the other way or actively help. A statement denying that complicity runs against how these networks are known to function, so this option misreads the passage rather than summing it up.
- The petty profiteering of a few actors comes at the immense cost of India's sustainable access to water: This ties the small scale gains of individual profiteers to the much larger, national scale cost of losing a shared, limited resource. That link between narrow self interest and a wide public loss is the kind of central argument a passage like this builds toward.
- All the above: This can only be correct if every one of the first three statements holds up. Since the second statement misstates how such rackets actually work, this option falls with it.
Once the second option is set aside as inaccurate, "all the above" cannot stand either. Between the remaining two, the profiteering-versus-sustainability point is the broader, more central claim, while the infrastructure gap is a supporting detail underneath it.
Therefore, the correct answer is the petty profiteering of a few actors comes at the immense cost of India's sustainable access to water.
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Question: 4
All of the following are sounds you can hear as the water tankers are filled, except:
All of the following are sounds you can hear as the water tankers are filled, except:
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Creaking
- Thrumming
- Droning
- Gushing
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The Correct Option is D
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The correct option is (D):Gushing
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The question asks which of the four words is not one of the sounds heard while the water tankers are being filled. Let's look at what each word actually describes.
- Creaking: A sharp, straining sound made by metal or old machinery under stress, such as a pipe joint or a tanker's frame flexing as it fills and grows heavier. This is a natural sound to expect around loading equipment.
- Thrumming: A steady, rhythmic, vibrating sound, close to a low hum with a pulse to it, the kind a running motor or pump makes while it works continuously. This fits the mechanical noise of a pump moving water.
- Droning: A continuous, low, monotonous sound, again typical of an engine or pump running without pause. Like thrumming, it describes the background noise of machinery at work.
- Gushing: This word usually describes the rapid, forceful motion of liquid flowing out, the visual and physical rush of water rather than a distinct engine or structural sound tied to the tanker itself. It sits apart from the other three, which are all about the machinery's noise rather than the water's motion.
Creaking, thrumming, and droning all describe sounds coming from the mechanical parts, the pump, the pipes, the tanker's frame, straining and running as the tanker is loaded. Gushing describes the water's own movement, not a sound produced by the loading apparatus, so it stands apart from the group.
Therefore, the correct answer is Gushing.
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Question: 5
Which of the following words from the passage means ‘hidden’?
Which of the following words from the passage means ‘hidden’?
Updated On: Jul 14, 2026
- Illicit
- Idling
- Subversive
- Covert
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The Correct Option is D
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The correct option is (D):Covert
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The question asks which word from the passage means 'hidden'. Let's check the meaning of each option against that one target sense.
- Illicit: This means not allowed by law or by the rules, forbidden. Something illicit can certainly be kept hidden, but the word itself is about legality, not about being out of sight.
- Idling: This describes an engine or a machine running without doing any useful work, or a person doing nothing in particular. It has nothing to do with being hidden.
- Subversive: This describes an attempt to undermine or weaken an established system, often secretly, but the core meaning is about working against something, not about being hidden itself.
- Covert: This means secret, concealed, done without being seen or noticed. This is the direct, dictionary sense of 'hidden'.
Illicit is about being unlawful, idling is about being inactive, and subversive is about undermining something, none of these give the sense of being out of view. Covert is the only word whose core meaning is concealment.
Therefore, the correct answer is Covert.
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Top CLAT Questions
- In the realm of contemporary literature, the interplay between character and setting is a nuanced dance that shapes the narrative’s essence. The setting, often described with painstaking detail, becomes more than a backdrop; it becomes a character, influencing the plot and character development.
Consider, for instance, the barren expanse of the desert in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. The arid landscape mirrors the sense of isolation felt by the protagonist, Gogol, as he navigates his identity crisis in a foreign land. The relentless sun and vast sands are not mere descriptions; they are the silent witnesses to his inner turmoil.
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[Extracted, with edits, from “Justice and the Two Ideas of India”, by G. Mohan Gopal, Frontline] - Everything she wanted was here, at Carignano, in Kasauli. Here, on the ridge of the mountain, in this quiet house. It was the place, and the time of life, that she had wanted and prepared for all her life-as she realized on the first day at Carignano, with a great, cool flowering of relief - and at last she had it. She wanted no one and nothing else. Whatever else came, or happened here, would be an unwelcome intrusion and distraction. This she tried to convey to the plodding postman with a cold and piercing stare from the height of the ridge onto his honest bull back. Unfortunately, he did not look up at her on the hilltop but stared stolidly down at the dust piling onto his shoes as he plodded on. A bullock-man, an oafish ox, she thought bitterly. She stepped backwards into the garden and the wind suddenly billowed up and threw the pine branches about as though to curtain her. She was grey, tall and thin and her silk sari made a sweeping, shivering sound and she fancied she could merge with the pine trees and be mistaken for one. To be a tree, no more and no less, was all she was prepared to undertake.
What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of all Kasauli of course-its starkness. It had rocks, it had pines, it had light and air. In every direction there was a sweeping view - to the north, of the mountains, to the south, of the plains. Occasionally an eagle swam through this clear unobstructed mass of light and air, that was all. And Carignano, her home on the ridge, had no more than that. Why should it? The sun shone on its white walls. Its windows were open the ones facing north opened on to the blue waves of the Himalayas flowing out and up to the line of ice and snow sketched upon the sky, while those that faced south looked down the plunging cliff to the plain stretching out, flat and sere to the blurred horizon.
Yes, there were some apricot trees close to the house. There were clumps of iris that had finished blooming. There was the kitchen with a wing of smoke lifting out of its chimney and a stack of wood outside its door. But these were incidental, almost unimportant.
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The 19th century ushered in a new era of literary giants. Jane Austen’s novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, provide incisive social commentary through the lens of wit and romance. Austen’s heroines, like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, remain beloved literary figures known for their intelligence and resilience. The Romantic era brought forth poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who celebrated * 8 UG the beauty of nature and the emotional intensity of the individual. Wordsworth’s ‘‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’’ and Coleridge’s ‘‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’’ are testament to the power of the written words to evoke profound emotions and imagery. Moving towards 20th century, English literature continued to evolve. Virginia Woolf’s ground-breaking novel Mrs. Dalloway explored the inner thoughts and lives of its characters with a modernist narrative style. Dystopian visions, as seen in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four provided stark warnings about the dangers of totalitarianism and the erosion of individual freedom.
Today, English literature is a global phenomenon, transcending borders and languages. Indian authors like Arundhati Roy, with her novel The God of Small Things, have won prestigious international literary awards. The book not only explores intricate family dynamics but also delves into the broader socio-political landscape of India. In summary, English literature is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the written word. It encompasses an array of authors, themes, and styles that continue to captivate and inspire readers across the world. - On the evening of the 10th, General Dyer arrived at Amritsar, and the Deputy-Commissioner handed over the civil power to him. He issued a proclamation by word of mouth that no meetings should be held. Two days later, after there had been no sort of riot, nor murder, General Dyer heard that a meeting was to be held at the Jallianwala Bagh. He proceeded there with about fifty troops, half British, half Indian, and a certain number of Ghurkas, armed with their kukris. The Jallianwala Bagh is an open space, half a mile square, which has one entry wide enough for three persons. The troops got in and lined up on a mound of debris. The walls, seven feet high, and the surrounding houses enclosed the people. There were, too, three alleys through which the people might have been able to pass. Within thirty seconds of the troops getting in, General Dyer gave orders to fire, and the crowd of people, estimated at anything from 5,000 to 20,000, who were sitting on the ground peacefully listening to the mob oratory, were fired on. The result of the troops’ fire into the mass of people we do not know. But we do know that Dyer’s own estimate of the casualties resulting from ten minutes continual individual firing, was 400 to 500 killed and 1,500 wounded. The people were not able to escape. They were people who had not offered any violence and who had not been warned. These people were shot down. After ten minutes, the ammunition was exhausted and the troops marched off, and they left 1,500 wounded there. There were men lying there for two days, dying of thirst, eating the ground, bleeding to death and nobody to look after them. Those who lived nearby came and carried away some of the wounded from the heap of dead and dying, but the unfortunate country people died there miserably of their wounds. This is what is done in 1919 in British India…
Centuries hence you will find Indian children brought up to this spot, just as they visit now the Cawnpore Well, and you can imagine the feelings of these Indians for generations over this terrible business.
[Col. Wedgwood, MP, speaking in the British Parliament, 22 December 1919]
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