Consider the following pairs:
| Glacier | River | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bandarpunch | Yamuna |
| 2. | Bara Shigri | Chenab |
| 3. | Milam | Mandakini |
| 4. | Siachen | Nubra |
| 5. | Zemu | Manas |
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 4
Pairs 1, 2 and 4 are correct: the Yamuna rises from the Bandarpunch glacier area, Bara Shigri feeds the Chandra (which becomes the Chenab), and the Siachen glacier gives rise to the Nubra. Milam is the source of the Sarda, not the Mandakini, and Zemu feeds the Teesta, not the Manas.
- ✓ 1. The Yamuna has its source in the Yamunotri glacier on the western slopes of the Banderpunch range (spelt Bandarpunch in the question).
- ✓ 2. Bara Shigri, the largest glacier of Lahaul, lies on the left bank of the Chandra; the Chandra and the Bhaga join at Tandi to form the Chandrabhaga, i.e. the Chenab.
- ✗ 3. The Milam glacier gives rise to the Sarda (Goriganga), a tributary of the Ghaghara. The Mandakini is a different stream of the Alaknanda system, so this pair fails.
- ✓ 4. The Siachen glacier is the source of the Nubra river, a tributary of the Shyok, which in turn joins the Indus.
- ✗ 5. The Zemu glacier on the eastern side of Kanchenjunga in Sikkim feeds the Zemu Chu, a stream of the Teesta basin. The Manas is a different river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra that flows through Bhutan and Assam.
Remember · Bandarpunch feeds the Yamuna, Bara Shigri the Chandra-Chenab, Siachen the Nubra, Milam the Sarda and Zemu the Teesta.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3 “The Yamuna, the western most and the longest tributary of the Ganga, has its source in the Yamunotri glacier on the western slopes of Banderpunch range (6,316 m).”
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3 “The Sarda or Saryu river rises in the Milam glacier in the Nepal Himalayas where it is known as the Goriganga.”
- Glaciers, District Lahaul and Spiti, Government of Himachal Pradesh ↗ “After their, confluence at Tandi, their combined waters constitute the Chandrabhaga or the Chenab river. … Shigri is applied par-excellence to one particular glacier that emerges from the mountains on the left bank of the Chandra.”
- Siachen Glacier, NASA Earth Observatory ↗ “it is the source of the Nubra River, a tributary of the Indus River flowing into Pakistan and the Arabian Sea.”
- Water Sources and Drainage, Gangtok District, Government of Sikkim ↗ “The Teesta comes out as a snout from the Zemu glacier above Lachen Gompha.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·