Consider the following statements:
- 1.The Barren Island volcano is an active volcano located in the Indian territory.
- 2.Barren Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicobar.
- 3.The last time the Barren Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 only
Only statement 1 is correct: Barren Island, in the Andaman Sea, is India's only active volcano. It lies north-east of Port Blair, not east of Great Nicobar, and it has erupted again after 1991, most recently in 2017 as of the exam.
- ✓ 1. NCERT calls Barren Island, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the only active volcano in India.
- ✗ 2. The island is about 138 km north-east of Port Blair (now Sri Vijaya Puram), the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Great Nicobar is at the far southern end of the island chain, much farther away.
- ✗ 3. The volcano did not stay quiet after 1991; the Ministry of Tourism's page says it last erupted in 2017.
Remember · Barren Island, about 138 km north-east of Port Blair, is India's only active volcano and has erupted as recently as 2017.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 2 “Barren island, the only active volcano in India is also situated in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.”
- Barren Island, Incredible India (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India) ↗ “Barren Island is approximately 138 kilometres northeast of Sri Vijaya Puram, the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is renowned for being South Asia's only active volcano, which last erupted in 2017.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·