Consider the following statements:
- 1.The duration of the monsoon decreases from southern India to northern India.
- 2.The amount of annual rainfall in the northern plains of India decreases from east to west.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Both statements are correct. The monsoon reaches the south first and the north-west last, and it withdraws from the north-west first, so its stay shortens northwards. Across the northern plains, rainfall falls steadily from the wet east (West Bengal, Assam) to the drier west (Punjab, Haryana and on into Rajasthan).
- ✓ 1. The south-west monsoon sets in over the Kerala coast by about 1 June and covers the whole country only by mid-July. Its withdrawal begins from the north-western states in September. So the monsoon season is longest in the south and shortest in the north-west.
- ✓ 2. In the northern plains, rainfall is highest in the east and decreases towards the west. The moisture-bearing Bay of Bengal branch loses water as it moves up the plains away from the sea. The national extremes show the same east–west contrast: over 400 cm in Meghalaya against under 10 cm in the western deserts.
Remember · Monsoon duration falls from south to north. Rainfall in the northern plains falls from east to west, from Bengal towards Punjab and Rajasthan, as the distance from the Bay of Bengal grows.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 4 “The southwest monsoon sets in over the Kerala coast by 1st June and moves swiftly to reach Mumbai and Kolkata between 10th and 13th June.”
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 4 “While the annual precipitation is less than 10 cm in the north- west Himalayas and the western deserts, it exceeds 400 cm in Meghalaya.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
