Prelims · Geography · 39 questions

India: relief, rivers & drainage

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UPSC syllabus: “Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2024 · Q6

Medium

With reference to the Himalayan rivers joining the Ganga downstream of Prayagraj from West to East, which one of the following sequences is correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) Gomati – Ghaghara – Gandak – Kosi

Follow the Ganga eastward from Prayagraj: the Gomati joins first at Kaithi (Ghazipur district, near Varanasi), then the Ghaghara near Chhapra, then the Gandak at Sonpur opposite Patna, and finally the Kosi further east in Bihar.

✓ (b) Gomati (Kaithi, Ghazipur) → Ghaghara (Chhapra) → Gandak (Sonpur, opposite Patna) → Kosi (eastern Bihar) is the west-to-east order of their confluences.
✗ (a) The Ghaghara cannot come first: the Gomati meets the Ganga upstream, near Varanasi, well before Chhapra.
✗ (d) The Kosi basin lies east of the Gandak and Burhi Gandak basins, so the Kosi joins after the Gandak, not before it.

Remember · Left-bank Himalayan tributaries of the Ganga, west to east: Ramganga, Gomati, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, Mahananda.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3 “The important left bank tributaries are the Ramganga, the Gomati, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, the Kosi and the Mahananda.”
Central Water Commission (Upper Ganga Basin Organisation): Gomti Basin ↗ “The river flows through an incised valley southwards through the districts of Sitapur, Lucknow, Barabanki, Sultanpur, and Jaunpur before meeting the Ganga river at Kaithi, District-Ghazipur, bordering Varanasi”
India-WRIS Wiki: Gandak Basin ↗ “The Gandak Basin is bounded on north by the Himalayas. On the south by the River Ganga, On the east by the Burhi Gandak Basin and on the west by the Ghagra Basin.”
India-WRIS Wiki: Kosi Basin ↗ “The Kosi basin is bounded on the north by the Himalayas, on the east by Mahananda basin, on the west by the Burhi Gandak basin and on the south by the river Ganga.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2024 · Q9

Medium

Consider the following information:

	Waterfall	Region	River
1.	Dhuandhar	Malwa	Narmada
2.	Hundru	Chota Nagpur	Subarnarekha
3.	Gersoppa	Western Ghats	Netravati

In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Only one

Only the Hundru row is fully right. Dhuandhar is on the Narmada but near Jabalpur in the Narmada rift valley, not in the Malwa plateau; Gersoppa (Jog) Falls is in the Western Ghats but on the Sharavati, not the Netravati.

✗ 1. Dhuandhar falls is on the Narmada near Jabalpur, where the river flows in a rift valley between the Vindhyas and Satpuras. The Malwa plateau lies to the north of the Narmada valley.
✓ 2. Hundru Falls is on the Subarnarekha river on the Chota Nagpur plateau, near Ranchi.
✗ 3. Gersoppa Falls, better known as Jog Falls, is in the Western Ghats but is formed by the Sharavati river. The Netravati is a different west-flowing river further south.

Remember · Dhuandhar — Narmada, near Jabalpur. Hundru — Subarnarekha, Chota Nagpur. Jog/Gersoppa — Sharavati, Western Ghats.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 8 (practise this chapter) · Class 6 Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3 “Flowing in a rift valley between the Satpura in the south and the Vindhyan range in the north, it forms a picturesque gorge in marble rocks and Dhuandhar waterfall near Jabalpur.”
NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 8 “The city of Mandu is located sixty miles from Indore, at an elevation of over 2000 feet and overlooks the Malwa Plateau to the north and the Narmada valley to the south.”
NCERT Class 6 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 3 “the Hundru Falls on the Subarnarekha River in the Chhota Nagpur Plateau and the Jog Falls on the Sharavati River in the Western Ghats are a few such waterfalls.”
IGNCA (Ministry of Culture): A Glimpse of Karnataka ↗ “Westward rivers: Mandavi, Kalinadi, Gangavali (or Bedti), Sharavati (with Gersoppa Falls), Haladi, Svarna, Netravati.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The same topic in Mains

World physical geographyGS 1 syllabus

Read it in NCERT

Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3cited in 2 explanations
Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 8cited in 1 explanation
Class 6 Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Chapter 3cited in 1 explanation

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