MPPSC 2026 Prelims Paper-I · Question 74 of 100

Correct — C, (a)-(iv) (b)-(i) (c)-(ii) (d)-(iii). Samrat Ashok Sagar → Halali: the Halali dam, built on the Halali river (a tributary of the Betwa) in the Vidisha–Raisen tract, carries the official name Samrat Ashok Sagar, after the Mauryan emperor whose association with Vidisha and Sanchi gives the region its identity. Bansagar → Son: the Bansagar dam stands on the Son at Deolond in Shahdol district and is a joint venture of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — the three states the Son serves on its way to the Ganga. Harsi → Parvati: the Harsi dam and its High Level Canal, in the Bhitarwar area of Gwalior district, are built on the Parvati river and irrigate the Gwalior region. Omkareshwar → Narmada: the Omkareshwar project is one of the Narmada Valley dams in Khandwa district, downstream of Indira Sagar. Two of these are near-certainties for any candidate — Bansagar on the Son and Omkareshwar on the Narmada — and option C is the only code that gets both right.

• (a)(a)-(i) (b)-(iv) (c)-(ii) (d)-(iii) — It gets Harsi–Parvati and Omkareshwar–Narmada right but swaps the first two: Bansagar is placed on the Halali and Samrat Ashok Sagar on the Son. Bansagar is unambiguously the Son project — the name of the reservoir and the tri-state agreement both hang on that river.
• (b)(a)-(ii) (b)-(iii) (c)-(i) (d)-(iv) — Wrong on three of the four pairs — Bansagar on the Narmada, Harsi on the Son and Omkareshwar on the Halali. Omkareshwar is a Narmada-valley project, and the Halali is a small Betwa-basin stream in central MP, nowhere near the Narmada valley.
• (d)(a)-(ii) (b)-(i) (c)-(iii) (d)-(iv) — This one gets Bansagar–Son right, which makes it look safe, but it then puts Harsi on the Narmada and Omkareshwar on the Halali. The Omkareshwar dam is on the Narmada, so this code fails on the single most familiar pair in the list.

Madhya Pradesh's irrigation projects are best learned as a river–district–project triad rather than as isolated names, because the commission rotates which of the three it hides. The state's biggest schemes sit on the Narmada (Indira Sagar at Punasa, Omkareshwar, Bargi, Tawa, Sardar Sarovar downstream in Gujarat); the Chambal system carries the Gandhi Sagar chain; the Betwa basin carries Halali/Samrat Ashok Sagar, Barna and Rajghat; and the Son carries Bansagar in the Baghelkhand region. Many of these are multipurpose — irrigation, power and drinking water together — and several are inter-state, which is why river-water sharing questions attach to them.

The correct approach to a four-pair match is to spend your effort only on the pairs you are certain of. Here Omkareshwar–Narmada is common knowledge, and it alone kills options B and D; Bansagar–Son then kills option A. You never need to independently recall that the Harsi project is on the Parvati or that Samrat Ashok Sagar is the Halali dam's formal name. One genuine pitfall worth noting: Madhya Pradesh has more than one river called Parvati, so do not assume the Harsi project's Parvati and the Chambal's Parvati are the same stream — the answer here does not depend on settling that.

• Samrat Ashok Sagar is the official name of the Halali dam, on the Halali river in the Betwa basin (Vidisha–Raisen tract)
• Bansagar dam is on the Son at Deolond in Shahdol district — a joint project of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
• Harsi dam and its High Level Canal, in the Bhitarwar area of Gwalior district, are built on the Parvati river
• Omkareshwar is a Narmada Valley project in Khandwa district, downstream of Indira Sagar
• The Son is a Ganga tributary; the Halali feeds the Betwa, which also joins the Yamuna–Ganga system

• Missing that Samrat Ashok Sagar and the Halali dam are the same structure under two names — commissions often use the ceremonial name
• Assuming a single Parvati river in Madhya Pradesh; the name recurs on more than one stream
• Confusing Omkareshwar the project with Omkareshwar the Jyotirlinga pilgrimage site — both are on the Narmada, but questions test different things about them

MPPSC asks this as a project-to-river or project-to-district match, and often in the negative form — 'which pair is NOT correctly matched'. UPSC asks the same reservoir–river or reservoir–state pairing at national scale, and has directly asked which river the Omkareshwar Project is associated with.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Bansagar dam, a joint project of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, is built on which river?

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

  Answer(b) Son — the dam is at Deolond in Shahdol district, and the three partner states all lie along the Son's course to the Ganga.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar projects are both located on which river?

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

  Answer(b) Narmada — both are part of the Narmada Valley development scheme, Omkareshwar lying downstream of Indira Sagar.