UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 85 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Arunachal Pradesh Rivers
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2014
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectGeography
- TopicIndian Geography
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeStatement
Consider the following rivers:
1. Barak
2. Lohit
3. Subansiri
Which of the above flows/flow through Arunachal Pradesh?
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 and 3 only
Verdict
The answer is 2 and 3 only. The Lohit and the Subansiri flow through Arunachal Pradesh, but the Barak does not.
Analysis
Statement 2 is CORRECT. The Lohit rises beyond the eastern Himalaya and joins the Brahmaputra in eastern Assam. Statement 3 is CORRECT. The Subansiri is the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra and flows south through Arunachal Pradesh into Assam. Statement 1 is INCORRECT. The Barak rises in the Manipur hills and flows through Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam before entering Bangladesh, in a basin entirely separate from the Brahmaputra system of Arunachal.
Source
Any standard atlas, with the Barak's profile reinforced by reporting on transboundary river issues.
How to crack it
The question is decided by one river, and the Barak is the one that recurs in the news, through the Tipaimukh dam controversy and the proposal to develop the Lakhipur to Bhanga stretch as a national waterway. Both stories place the Barak firmly in Manipur and Assam. Reading each river as a basin rather than as a line, that is Brahmaputra tributaries against the Barak and Meghna system, lets you sort North-East rivers reliably from a mental map.