Consider the following statements about physical features of India : 1. The southern point of the Peninsular Plateau is formed by the Nilgiri Hills where the Eastern and the Western Ghats meet 2. The Cardamom Hills may be regarded as a continuation of the Eastern Ghats Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — A, 1 only. Statement 1 is right: the Nilgiris are the range at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats in south India, and they close off the southern end of the peninsular upland. Statement 2 is wrong because it names the wrong range — the Cardamom Hills are part of the southern WESTERN Ghats, lying in Idukki district of Kerala with their crest forming the Kerala-Tamil Nadu boundary. Swap 'Eastern' for 'Western' in statement 2 and it becomes a standard textbook line; as printed, it is false.
- (b)2 only — This accepts the false statement and rejects the true one. The Cardamom Hills sit on the Western Ghats, and the Nilgiri junction of the two Ghats is one of the most settled facts in Indian physical geography.
- (c)Both 1 and 2 — Statement 2 cannot stand. The Cardamom Hills adjoin the Anaimalai Hills to the north-west and the Palani Hills to the north-east — all Western Ghats country — and are separated from the Eastern Ghats by the whole width of the Tamil Nadu plains.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 1 is correct, so this over-rejects. The meeting of the two Ghats in the Nilgiris is exactly what makes that range a biogeographic crossroads.
The Peninsular Plateau is bordered by two escarpments: the Western Ghats running almost unbroken down the west coast, and the discontinuous Eastern Ghats along the east. They converge in the south, and the Nilgiri Hills are that junction — the range where the plateau's southern rim closes. South of the Nilgiris the Palghat gap breaks the chain, and beyond it the Western Ghats continue as the Anaimalai, Palani and Cardamom Hills, carrying Anamudi at 2,695 m, the highest peak of the Western Ghats and the highest point in India south of the Himalayas.
This is a two-statement item where each half turns on one word. Read statement 1 for the meeting point and statement 2 for the range name. The trap in statement 2 works because the Cardamom Hills sound south-eastern and lie close to the Tamil Nadu border, so a candidate who only half-remembers the map lets 'Eastern Ghats' pass. Anchor it instead to Anamudi: the highest peak of the Western Ghats stands in this same southern cluster, so the cluster must be Western Ghats. UPSC has tested the same trap directly, treating the pairing of the Cardamom Hills with the Coromandel Coast as a wrong match.
- The Nilgiris lie at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats and span Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
- Doddabetta, at 2,637 m, is the highest peak of the Nilgiris.
- The Cardamom Hills are part of the southern Western Ghats, in Idukki district of Kerala.
- The Cardamom Hills adjoin the Anaimalai Hills to the north-west and the Palani Hills to the north-east; Anamudi, 2,695 m, is the highest peak in the Western Ghats.
- Reading a hill range's name or its position near the east coast as evidence that it belongs to the Eastern Ghats.
- Confusing Doddabetta, the Nilgiri high point, with Anamudi, the highest peak of the Western Ghats.
- Assuming a two-statement set must be all-correct or all-wrong; here exactly one word makes the second statement fail.
Asked as a two-statement correctness set, or as a pairs question matching hill ranges with the region or Ghat they belong to.
Which of the following hills are found where the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats meet?
- (a) Anaimalai Hills
- (b) Cardamom Hills
- (c) Nilgiri Hills
- (d) Shevaroy Hills
Answer(c) Nilgiri Hills
Statement 1 of this NDA item, asked directly by UPSC — and note that its wrong options include the Cardamom Hills, the very range NDA later used to build its false statement.
Consider the following pairs: Hills : Region 1. Cardamom Hills : Coromandel Coast 2. Kaimur Hills : Konkan Coast 3. Mahadeo Hills : Central India 4. Mikir Hills : North-East India Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 and 3
- (c) 3 and 4
- (d) 2 and 4
Answer(c) 3 and 4
UPSC set the identical trap by tying the Cardamom Hills to the east coast, and marked that pairing wrong. The hills belong to the southern Western Ghats in Kerala, not to the Coromandel side.
In India, rigid and stable elevated lands, denuded rocks and series of scarps are the features of which of the following?
- (a) Northern mountains
- (b) Peninsular plateau
- (c) Northern plains
- (d) Coastal plains
Answer(b) Peninsular plateau
The physiographic unit this question is set inside. NDA first tested how the Peninsular Plateau is recognised; here it tests where that plateau ends and which ranges close it off.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Anamudi, the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas, lies in which range?
- (a)The Eastern Ghats
- (b)The Western Ghats
- (c)The Satpura range
- (d)The Aravalli range
Answer(b) The Western Ghats — Anamudi rises to 2,695 m in the southern Western Ghats cluster that includes the Anaimalai and Cardamom Hills.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Palghat gap is a break in which of the following?
- (a)The Eastern Ghats
- (b)The Western Ghats
- (c)The Vindhyan range
- (d)The Karakoram range
Answer(b) The Western Ghats — the gap separates the Nilgiris to its north from the Anaimalai Hills to its south.