Match the following rivers with their Area of Origin and identify the correct code: Rivers: (1) Kaveri (2) Sabarmati (3) Tapti (Tapi) (4) Damodar Area of Origin: (i) Satpura range (ii) Brahmagiri hills (iii) Mewad hills (iv) Chota Nagpur Plateau
- (a)(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
- (b)(iii) (iv) (i) (ii)
- (c)(ii) (iii) (i) (iv)
- (d)(iv) (ii) (iii) (i)
Correct — C, (ii)(iii)(i)(iv). Kaveri rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills (Kodagu district, Karnataka) — pairing (1) Kaveri with (ii) Brahmagiri hills. Sabarmati rises in the Aravalli Range's Mewad hills near Udaipur, Rajasthan — pairing (2) Sabarmati with (iii) Mewad hills. Tapti (Tapi) rises near Multai, Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, on the Satpura range — pairing (3) Tapti with (i) Satpura range. Damodar rises on the Chota Nagpur Plateau (Jharkhand) and flows through a rift (graben) valley formed by down-warping — pairing (4) Damodar with (iv) Chota Nagpur Plateau. Option (c) is the only code that keeps all four pairings correct.
- (a)(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) — Places Kaveri at (i) Satpura range and Tapti at (iii) Mewad hills — both wrong; Kaveri rises in the Brahmagiri hills of Karnataka, and Tapti rises on the Satpura range, not in Rajasthan's Mewad hills.
- (b)(iii) (iv) (i) (ii) — Places Kaveri at (iii) Mewad hills and Damodar at (ii) Brahmagiri hills — both wrong; a south Indian river (Kaveri) cannot rise in a north-western hill range, and Damodar, in Jharkhand, has no connection to Karnataka's Brahmagiri hills.
- (d)(iv) (ii) (iii) (i) — Places Kaveri at (iv) Chota Nagpur Plateau and Damodar at (i) Satpura range — both wrong; Kaveri (Karnataka) and the Chota Nagpur belt (Jharkhand/Odisha) are geographically unrelated, and Damodar's established rift-valley origin is the Chota Nagpur Plateau, not the Satpura range.
This is a match-the-following on the 'Area of Origin' of four rivers spread across Peninsular and Central India. Each pairing is fixed by well-established physical geography: Kaveri (south, Karnataka) rises in the Western Ghats' Brahmagiri hills; Sabarmati (north-west, Rajasthan) rises in the Aravalli Range's Mewad hills; Tapti (central, Madhya Pradesh) rises on the Satpura range; and Damodar (east, Jharkhand) rises on the Chota Nagpur Plateau.
MPPSC match-questions on river sources reward knowing each river's home region first — a south Indian river (Kaveri) cannot share an origin with a Jharkhand river (Damodar), which lets you eliminate cross-region swaps like options (b) and (d) quickly, then confirm the remaining pair (Tapti–Satpura, Sabarmati–Mewad hills).
- Kaveri (Cauvery) rises at Talakaveri, Brahmagiri hills, Kodagu district, Karnataka.
- Sabarmati rises in the Aravalli Range's Mewad hills, near Udaipur, Rajasthan.
- Tapti (Tapi) rises near Multai, Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, on the Satpura range.
- Damodar rises on the Chota Nagpur Plateau (Jharkhand) and flows through a rift (graben) valley formed by down-warping.
Each river's home region fixes its origin — the correct code is (c), (ii)(iii)(i)(iv).
- Assuming every east-flowing Chota Nagpur-belt river shares one identical named source hill — Damodar's source (Chota Nagpur Plateau) is distinct from Kaveri's (Brahmagiri hills, Karnataka).
- Confusing the Satpura range (Tapti's source) with the Aravalli Range's Mewad hills (Sabarmati's source) — both are hill/range names that examiners like to swap in match questions.
MPPSC and UPSC both like river-source match questions; solve by anchoring on the river's home region (state/physiographic belt) first, eliminating any code that puts a river in a geographically unrelated region.
Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists : List-I (Town) A. Betul B. Jagdalpur C. Jabalpur D. Ujjain List-II (River) 1. Indravati 2. Narmada 3. Shipra 4. Tapti
- (a) A-1 B-4 C-2 D-3
- (b) A-4 B-1 C-2 D-3
- (c) A-4 B-1 C-3 D-2
- (d) A-1 B-4 C-3 D-2
Answer(b) A-4 B-1 C-2 D-3
UPSC 2007 directly confirms the same anchor fact — Betul (district) pairs with the Tapti river — the fact used here to pin Tapti to the Satpura range.
Which one of the following east-flowing rivers of India has a rift valley due to down-warping?
- (a) Damodar
- (b) Mahanadi
- (c) Sone
- (d) Yamuna
Answer(a) Damodar
Directly tests the Damodar's rift-valley origin on the Chota Nagpur Plateau — the same anchor fact used here to pin option (c) as correct.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Kaveri (Cauvery) river originates at Talakaveri, in which hill range?
- (a)Brahmagiri hills
- (b)Nilgiri hills
- (c)Anaimalai hills
- (d)Cardamom hills
Answer(a) Brahmagiri hills, Kodagu district, Karnataka.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Damodar river, which flows through a rift valley formed by down-warping, originates on the:
- (a)Chota Nagpur Plateau
- (b)Malwa Plateau
- (c)Deccan Plateau
- (d)Satpura range
Answer(a) Chota Nagpur Plateau.