Indian Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: C

They form estuaries.

All four are west-flowing rivers that run through rift valleys or steep gradients, so they carry little silt and the strong tides of the Arabian Sea sweep away what they do bring. A delta needs a heavy silt load deposited on a gentle gradient, which the east-flowing rivers provide.

Answer: D

The Mahanadi does not rise in the Western Ghats.

It rises in the Sihawa hills of Chhattisgarh and flows east to the Bay of Bengal. The Cauvery, Godavari and Krishna all rise in the Western Ghats within a short distance of the Arabian Sea and cross the entire peninsula eastward, because the plateau tilts that way.

Answer: B

II and IV - afforestation and limiting shifting cultivation.

Tree roots bind the soil and the canopy breaks the force of rain, while shifting cultivation strips cover and leaves slopes bare. Crop rotation should be encouraged, not avoided, and chemical fertilisers do nothing for soil structure - overuse degrades it.

Answer: A

Correct answer: It lies in the path of the retreating northeast monsoon

Tamil Nadu receives most of its rain from the northeast or retreating monsoon, between October and December, rather than from the southwest monsoon that waters most of India in June to September. The reason is twofold. During the southwest monsoon the state lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, which intercept the moisture-laden air arriving from the Arabian Sea. Then, as the monsoon withdraws and the winds reverse to blow from land to sea, the outgoing air crosses the Bay of Bengal, picks up moisture, and delivers it to the Coromandel coast. That is why the state’s agricultural calendar differs from the rest of the country’s, and why a failure of the northeast monsoon causes drought there while the rest of India has had a good year. The same season brings tropical cyclones from the Bay of Bengal, which strike the east coast and account for a substantial part of the rainfall - and for much of the damage.

Answer: D

The Barak flows through the Manipur hills.

It rises in the Manipur hills, flows through Assam's Barak valley past Silchar, and enters Bangladesh, where it splits into the Surma and Kushiyara and eventually joins the Meghna. It is the second largest river system of the north-east after the Brahmaputra.

Answer: B

The Wild Ass Sanctuary is in Gujarat.

It occupies about 5,000 sq km of the Little Rann of Kutch and is the last refuge of the Indian wild ass, the khur. The salt flats flood in the monsoon and dry into a crust, leaving raised grassy islands called bets on which the animals graze.

Answer: C

About 35 per cent of India's cropped area is irrigated.

The rest depends on the monsoon, which is why a weak rainy season still moves food prices. Punjab and Haryana are almost wholly irrigated, while much of the Deccan and the east is not; canals and tube wells supply most of the water.

Answer: B

India is the leading producer among these.

It grows roughly a quarter of the world's tea, chiefly in Assam, West Bengal's Darjeeling and Dooars, and the Nilgiris. China produces more - about 40 per cent of the world total - but is not on this list; Kenya is the largest exporter of black tea.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Gujarat

Gujarat is the largest producer of cotton in India, with Maharashtra and Telangana following. India is the world’s largest producer of the crop by area and among the largest by output. Cotton needs high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine during ripening. The black cotton soil of the Deccan, weathered from basalt and able to hold moisture through the dry season, suits it particularly well, which is why the crop is named for that soil. Gujarat leads partly on irrigation from the Narmada canal system and partly on the rapid adoption of Bt cotton after its approval in 2002, which now accounts for almost the entire crop and transformed yields. India grows all four cultivated species, and long-staple varieties command the higher price. The industry has a long history: cotton textiles from Gujarat and Bengal were among India’s principal exports for centuries before mechanised competition displaced them in the nineteenth century.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

The Kaveri dispute is chiefly between Karnataka, the upper riparian state where the river rises at Talakaveri in the Western Ghats, and Tamil Nadu, the lower riparian state whose delta depends on it. Kerala and Puducherry are also parties. It is among the longest-running interstate water disputes in India, with roots in agreements of 1892 and 1924 made under British administration. A tribunal was constituted in 1990 and gave its final award in 2007, apportioning the flow; the Supreme Court modified the shares in 2018 and directed the creation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority. Disputes of this kind are governed by the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act of 1972, under which the centre refers a dispute to a tribunal whose award has the force of a Supreme Court decree. The other major disputes are worth knowing: the Ravi and Beas between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan; the Krishna between Maharashtra, Karnataka and the Telugu states; and the Mahanadi between Chhattisgarh and Odisha.