The southern part of the Vindhyan Scarpland is called:
- (a)Amarkantak plateau
- (b)Maikal plateau
- (c)Bhander plateau
- (d)Bastar plateau
Correct — C, Bhander plateau. Madhya Pradesh's Vindhyan Scarpland is a chain of stepped plateaus formed on Vindhyan sedimentary rocks along the Kaimur Range, running roughly west to east: Panna Plateau, Bhander Plateau, and Rewa Plateau. Of these, the Bhander Plateau lies in the southernmost part of this scarpland belt, closest to and overlooking the Narmada valley.
- (a)Amarkantak plateau — Amarkantak lies further south, at the meeting point of the Vindhya and Satpura (Maikal) range systems — it belongs to the separate Satpura system, not the Vindhyan Scarpland.
- (b)Maikal plateau — The Maikal Range/plateau is part of the Satpura hill system south of the Narmada — a distinct range from the Vindhyan Scarpland north of it.
- (d)Bastar plateau — Bastar plateau lies far to the south-east, in the Deccan/Chhattisgarh region — geographically unrelated to the Vindhyan Scarpland of northern/central MP.
Madhya Pradesh's Vindhyan Scarpland is a belt of stepped plateaus on Vindhyan rock, running along the Kaimur Range: Panna Plateau, then Bhander Plateau, then Rewa Plateau further east. The Bhander Plateau, at the southern end of this belt, faces the Narmada valley, while the Kaimur Range itself separates the Son river basin (north) from the Narmada basin (south).
Exams pair this with the Satpura-Maikal-Amarkantak cluster that lies south of the Narmada — students often merge the two separate hill systems (Vindhyan Scarpland north of the Narmada vs. Satpura/Maikal south of it) into one.
- Vindhyan Scarpland (MP): a chain of stepped plateaus on Vindhyan rock — Panna, Bhander, and Rewa plateaus, west to east.
- Bhander Plateau is the southern part of this scarpland, adjoining the Narmada valley.
- The Kaimur Range divides the Son river basin from the Narmada basin.
- Amarkantak and the Maikal Hills belong to the separate Satpura range system, south of the Narmada valley.
The Vindhyan Scarpland's own southern step is the Bhander Plateau — Amarkantak/Maikal belong to a different range system entirely.
- Treating the Vindhyan Scarpland and the Satpura/Maikal system as one hill belt — they are separate, split by the Narmada valley
- Confusing Bhander Plateau (Vindhyan Scarpland, north of the Narmada) with Amarkantak/Maikal (Satpura system, south of the Narmada)
MPPSC tests exact plateau/range names within MP's physiographic divisions — know the Vindhyan Scarpland's own internal chain (Panna-Bhander-Rewa) as distinct from the Satpura-Maikal cluster.
Consider the following statements: 1. Amarkantak Hills are at the confluence of Vindhya and Sahyadri Ranges. 2. Biligirirangan Hills constitute the easternmost part of Satpura Range. 3. Seshachalam Hills constitute the southernmost part of Western Ghats. How many of the statements given above are correct?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All three
- (d) None
Answer(d) None
Same regional geography — precisely locating the Vindhya Range's sub-features in central India. UPSC's statement 1 (Amarkantak = Vindhya + Sahyadri confluence) is false; Amarkantak actually sits at the Vindhya-Satpura(Maikal) junction, the same distinction (Vindhyan Scarpland vs. Satpura/Maikal system) tested by this question's Bhander-vs-Amarkantak/Maikal distractors.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Kaimur Range in Madhya Pradesh forms a water divide between which two river basins?
- (a)Narmada and Tapi
- (b)Son and Narmada
- (c)Chambal and Betwa
- (d)Mahanadi and Godavari
Answer(b) Son and Narmada.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Amarkantak, the source of the Narmada river, lies at the meeting point of which two hill/range systems?
- (a)Vindhya and Sahyadri
- (b)Vindhya and Satpura (Maikal)
- (c)Satpura and Aravalli
- (d)Aravalli and Vindhya
Answer(b) Vindhya and Satpura (Maikal) ranges.