Match List-I (Rivers) with List-II (Tributaries) and choose the correct answer:

(a) Chambal

(b) Tons (Tamsa)

(c) Narmada

(d) Kshipra; (i) Belan (ii) Parvati (iii) Gambhir (iv) Tawa

Question

Match List-I (Rivers) with List-II (Tributaries) and choose the correct answer: (a) Chambal (b) Tons (Tamsa) (c) Narmada (d) Kshipra; (i) Belan (ii) Parvati (iii) Gambhir (iv) Tawa

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, (a)-(ii) (b)-(i) (c)-(iv) (d)-(iii). Chambal → Parvati: the Parvati is one of the Chambal's main right-bank feeders, along with the Kali Sindh and the Kshipra (the Banas joins from the left). Tons (Tamsa) → Belan: the Tons rises at Tamas Kund near Maihar, crosses the Rewa plateau and, after receiving the Belan in the Vindhyan foothills, joins the Ganga below Prayagraj. Narmada → Tawa: the Tawa is the Narmada's largest tributary, joining it near Bandrabhan in Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) district and impounded by the Tawa Dam. Kshipra → Gambhir: the Gambhir is the small Malwa stream of the Ujjain area, dammed to supply Ujjain city with drinking water. Two anchors settle the whole question — Tawa belongs to the Narmada and Parvati to the Chambal — and only option C gets both right.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Breaks the two firmest pairs at once: it hands the Tawa to the Kshipra and gives the Narmada the Belan. The Tawa is the Narmada's largest tributary and drains the Satpura slopes, nowhere near the Kshipra's Malwa catchment.  (b) Puts the Tawa with the Tons and the Parvati with the Narmada. The Tons belongs to the Ganga system in the Rewa–Baghelkhand tract, while the Tawa is a south-bank Satpura stream of the Narmada — the two lie on opposite sides of the state.  (d) Again pairs the Narmada with the Parvati and the Kshipra with the Tawa, and additionally gives the Chambal the Belan — a Vindhyan stream of the Tons basin far to the east of the Chambal's catchment.

Concept: Madhya Pradesh's rivers belong to three separate drainage systems, and matching questions are really testing basin membership, not river names. The Ganga system takes the largest share: the Chambal (fed by the Kshipra, Parvati, Kali Sindh and Banas) and the Betwa flow into the Yamuna, while the Tons (Tamsa) and the Sone reach the Ganga directly. The Narmada and the Tapi flow west into the Arabian Sea through rift valleys, the Narmada collecting Satpura-fed tributaries such as the Tawa. The south-east of the state drains to the Godavari through the Wainganga. Fix the basin first and most match-lists collapse.

State PCS 2026 Q71 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q71 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer