Gandikota canyon of South India was created by which one of the following rivers?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (c) Pennar
The Gandikota gorge in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, is cut by the Pennar (Penna) river through the Erramala hills. The name itself joins the Telugu words for gorge ('gandi') and fort ('kota'), after the medieval fort perched above the canyon.
✓(c)The Kadapa district administration describes the Penna river gorge, about 200 metres wide, flowing between the cliffs of the Erramala hills at Gandikota.
✗(d)The Tungabhadra is a Krishna tributary flowing past Hampi in Karnataka; it does not flow through Kadapa district.
✗(b)The Manjira is a tributary of the Godavari in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana, far north of Gandikota.
Remember · Gandikota ('gorge fort'), Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh: canyon of the Pennar/Penna river through the Erramala hills — often called India's Grand Canyon.
Sources
District YSR (Kadapa), Government of Andhra Pradesh: Gandikota ↗“The viewpoint offers breathtaking panoramic views of the Penna river gorge flowing between the cliffs of Erramala hills, with a width of around 200 metres, forming one of the finest gorges in South India.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (b) 2 only
Why not the tempting option · The tempting objection is that Nanda Devi stands in Chamoli, in the Garhwal division of Uttarakhand; but 'Kumaon Himalaya' in the regional divisions of the range means the whole stretch between the Satluj and the Kali, which takes in Garhwal, and Nanda Devi is its highest peak.
Only pair 2 is right. In the regional divisions of the Himalaya, the Kumaon Himalaya is the stretch between the Satluj and the Kali, the whole of Uttarakhand including Garhwal, and Nanda Devi (7,816 m) is its highest peak. Namcha Barwa stands at the eastern end of the range, where the Brahmaputra bends round it into Arunachal Pradesh, nowhere near Garhwal; Nokrek is in Meghalaya, not in the Himalaya at all.
✗1.Namcha Barwa (7,755 m) is in the eastern Himalaya, at the great bend where the river emerges from the foothills as the Siang or Dihang and enters Arunachal Pradesh. Garhwal is at the other end of the range.
✓2.Nanda Devi (7,816 m) is the highest peak of the Kumaon Himalaya. The peak itself stands in Chamoli, in Uttarakhand's Garhwal division, but 'Kumaon Himalaya' in the regional divisions of the range means the whole stretch between the Satluj and the Kali, which takes in Garhwal; NCERT uses this very division.
✗3.NCERT lists Nokrek as a biosphere reserve in Meghalaya (1988), in the Garo Hills of the north-east, not in the Sikkim Himalaya.
Remember · Regional divisions of the Himalaya by rivers: Punjab (Indus to Satluj), Kumaon (Satluj to Kali), Nepal (Kali to Teesta), Assam (Teesta to Dihang). Nanda Devi: highest peak of the Kumaon Himalaya, Uttarakhand. Namcha Barwa: eastern end, at the Brahmaputra's bend. Nokrek: Meghalaya.
NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3“Himalayas near Namcha Barwa (7,755 m). The river emerges from the foothills under the name of Siang or Dihang. It enters India west of Sadiya town in Arunachal Pradesh.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Kumaun Himalayas ↗ · reference work“It rises to 25,646 feet (7,817 metres) at Nanda Devi , the range’s highest peak, and to 25,446 feet (7,756 metres) at Kamet, near the Chinese border.”
All four are Ramsar sites. Renuka (Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh) and Rudrasagar (Melaghar, Tripura) are correctly placed, but Hokera (Hokersar) lies near Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, and Sasthamkotta is in Kollam district, Kerala. So only two pairs match.
✗1.Hokera, also called Hokersar, is a wetland near Srinagar in the Kashmir valley, a winter halt for migratory birds from Siberia and Central Asia — not in Punjab.
✓2.Renuka lake and the Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary around it are in Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh.
✓3.Rudrasagar Lake is at Melaghar in Sepahijala district, Tripura; the Neermahal water palace stands in the middle of it.
✗4.Sasthamkotta (Sasthamcotta) Lake, Kerala's largest freshwater lake, is about 19 km from Kollam town and supplies Kollam's drinking water — it is in Kerala, not Tamil Nadu.
Remember · Hokera/Hokersar — J&K; Renuka — Himachal Pradesh; Rudrasagar (Neermahal) — Tripura; Sasthamkotta — Kerala (largest freshwater lake of the state). All are Ramsar sites.
District Kollam (Government of Kerala): Places of Interest ↗“Sasthamcottah is an attractive village situated about 19 kms. from Kollam Town. It is a beauty spot, a health resort and a centre of pilgrimage. The extensive freshwater lake here, is said to be the biggest of its kind in Kerala.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
How many pairs given above are not correctly matched?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (c) Only three pairs
Only Gandhi Sagar (Madhya Pradesh) is correctly matched, so three pairs are wrong. Ghataprabha (Hidkal) is in Karnataka, Indira Sagar is in Madhya Pradesh and Maithon is in Jharkhand.
✗1.The Ghataprabha (Hidkal) reservoir is in Karnataka, not Telangana.
✓2.Gandhi Sagar is on the Chambal river in Madhya Pradesh.
✗3.Indira Sagar is a multipurpose project on the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, not Andhra Pradesh.
✗4.Maithon dam is on the Barakar river near Dhanbad in Jharkhand, not Chhattisgarh.
Remember · Gandhi Sagar (Chambal) and Indira Sagar (Narmada) are in Madhya Pradesh; Maithon (Barakar, DVC) is in Jharkhand; Ghataprabha's Hidkal reservoir is in Karnataka.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·