MPPSC 2018 Prelims Paper-I · Question 56 of 100

This question was cancelled by the commission and marks were awarded to all candidates, so no option is treated as correct. The flaw is that two choices are both defensible: Dhoopgarh (about 1,350 m) is the highest peak of Madhya Pradesh, and it stands near Pachmarhi in the Mahadeo Hills (Mahadeo Range) — but the Mahadeo Hills are themselves the northern part of the Satpura Range. A candidate can therefore justify either 'Satpura Range' or 'Mahadeo Range,' leaving no single defensible key. Use the item only to fix the fact: Dhoopgarh = the highest point of Madhya Pradesh and of the Satpura system, in the Mahadeo Hills near Pachmarhi.

• (a)Satpura Range — Not treated as correct — the item was cancelled. Geographically it is defensible: Dhoopgarh is the highest peak of the Satpura Range, so marking 'Satpura' wrong is not justifiable, which is part of why the question was voided.
• (b)Mahadeo Range — Not treated as correct — the item was cancelled. This is equally defensible: Dhoopgarh sits in the Mahadeo Hills at Pachmarhi, and the Mahadeo Hills form the northern block of the Satpura Range — so 'Mahadeo' is just as arguable, leaving two possible answers.
• (c)Maikal Range — Wrong location — the Maikal Range (Maikal Hills) lies in eastern Madhya Pradesh around Amarkantak, the source of the Narmada; Dhoopgarh is not there.
• (d)Vindhyayan Range — Wrong location — the Vindhyan (Vindhyachal) Range runs north of the Narmada, whereas Dhoopgarh belongs to the Satpura system south of the Narmada.

Madhya Pradesh is crossed by three major upland systems: the Vindhyan Range north of the Narmada, the Satpura Range south of it, and the Maikal Range (Hills) forming the eastern hinge around Amarkantak. The Mahadeo Hills are the high, north-central block of the Satpuras, around Pachmarhi. Dhoopgarh (about 1,350 m), near Pachmarhi, is the highest peak of both the Satpura Range and of the whole of Madhya Pradesh.

The trap — and the defect that got the item cancelled — is that 'Mahadeo Range' and 'Satpura Range' are not mutually exclusive: the Mahadeo Hills are a part of the Satpuras. Whenever a nested landform (a sub-range inside a larger range) appears among the options, watch for exactly this ambiguity.

• Dhoopgarh (~1,350 m) is the highest peak of Madhya Pradesh.
• It lies near Pachmarhi in the Mahadeo Hills, the northern block of the Satpura Range.
• The Vindhyan Range is north of the Narmada; the Satpura Range is south of it.
• The Maikal Range (around Amarkantak, in the east) is the source area of the Narmada.
• The commission cancelled this 2018 item and awarded marks to all candidates.

• Treating 'Mahadeo Range' and 'Satpura Range' as separate when the Mahadeo Hills are part of the Satpuras
• Confusing the Maikal Range (east, Amarkantak) with the Satpuras (Dhoopgarh)

MPPSC asks the exact peak, range or height for Madhya Pradesh; UPSC asks the relative arrangement of ranges (north-to-south, which range a hill belongs to). Anchor: Dhoopgarh ↔ Satpura/Mahadeo ↔ Pachmarhi.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The highest peak of the Satpura Range is:

  • (a)Dhupgarh
  • (b)Amarkantak
  • (c)Guru Shikhar
  • (d)Anaimudi

  Answer(a) Dhupgarh (~1,350 m), near Pachmarhi — also the highest point of Madhya Pradesh.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Maikal Range of Madhya Pradesh is best known as the source region of which river?

  • (a)Chambal
  • (b)Betwa
  • (c)Narmada
  • (d)Tapti

  Answer(c) Narmada — it rises at Amarkantak in the Maikal Hills.