Which among the following are parts of Thar desert? (A) Godwar Tract (B) Shekhawati Tract (C) Banas Plain (D) Ghaggar Plain

Correct — option (3), (A), (B) and (D).

Three of the four tracts lie in the Western Sandy Plain of the dryland manual of the Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), the division whose western portion AFRI calls the Thar Desert. The Banas Plain lies in its Eastern Plain.

(A) Godwar Tract: Wikipedia describes Godwar as the south-western region of Jalore, Sirohi and southern Pali, drained by the Sukri and its tributaries towards the Luni. All three districts are on the list of the AFRI manual (A Manual for Dryland Afforestation and Management, 2016) for the Western Sandy Plain.

(B) Shekhawati Tract: AFRI describes Churu, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and part of Nagaur as undulating sandy terrain crossed by longitudinal sand dunes, with one seasonal river, the Kantli.

(D) Ghaggar Plain: AFRI's Ghaggar Plain, in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar, is a sandy plain with dunes and small sand-hills, named for the ancient bed of the Ghaggar.

(C) Banas Plain: AFRI lists it in the Eastern Plain region, as a peneplain of the Banas.

Godwar, Shekhawati and the Ghaggar plain fall in the Western Sandy Plain, so the answer is (A), (B) and (D).

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  (A) and (B) — This code accepts Godwar and Shekhawati but leaves out D, the Ghaggar Plain.

  AFRI places the Ghaggar Plain, in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar, inside the Western Sandy Plain, and describes it as sandy, with dunes and small sand-hills. It belongs with A and B.

• (2)
  (B) and (C) — This code keeps Shekhawati but adds C and drops A and D.

  The Banas Plain is in AFRI's Eastern Plain region, divided into the Mewar Plain and the Malpura-Karauli Plain, east of the Aravallis. Godwar and the Ghaggar plain, which this code omits, both lie in the western sandy plain.

• (4)
  (A), (C), and (D) — This code gets Godwar and the Ghaggar plain right but swaps Shekhawati for the Banas Plain.

  Wikipedia's Shekhawati article places Shekhawati in the Thar Desert, and AFRI describes its sandy terrain and longitudinal dunes. The Banas Plain is in the eastern plain, so C does not belong.

AFRI's manual, A Manual for Dryland Afforestation and Management (2016), divides Rajasthan into four physiographic divisions: the Western Sandy Plain, the Aravalli Range and Hilly Region, the Eastern Plain, and the South-East Rajasthan Plateau.

The Western Sandy Plain has a sandy arid part and a semi-arid part called the Bangur. AFRI's Bangur includes the Luni basin, the Shekhawati region, the Nagaur upland and the Ghaggar plain.

Sources use the name Thar differently. AFRI calls the western portion of the sandy plain the Thar Desert, while Wikipedia's Thar article bounds the desert by the Aravalli Range on the east.

Key facts

• AFRI (2016) divides Rajasthan into four physiographic divisions: Western Sandy Plain, Aravalli Range and Hilly Region, Eastern Plain, and South-East Rajasthan Plateau.
• AFRI: the Western Sandy Plain covers Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore, Sirohi, Pali, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu, Sikar and Jhunjhunu districts.
• AFRI: the semi-arid Bangur part of that plain includes the Luni basin, the Shekhawati region, the Nagaur upland and the Ghaggar plain.
• AFRI: the Banas Plain belongs to the Eastern Plain region and divides into the Mewar Plain and the Malpura-Karauli Plain.
• AFRI: the Kantli, a seasonal stream, is the only river of the Shekhawati region.

Common traps

• Taking Thar in its narrowest sense. AFRI reserves the name Thar Desert for the western portion of the sandy plain, yet its semi-arid Bangur, with Shekhawati and the Ghaggar plain, is part of the same Western Sandy Plain.
• Placing every river plain in the east. The Ghaggar plain is part of the western sandy plain; the Banas plain is part of the eastern plain.
• Confusing two Banas rivers. AFRI names the West Banas valley as what separates the Abu block from the main Aravalli range; the Banas Plain belongs to the east-flowing Banas.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following physiographic units of Rajasthan belongs to the Eastern Plain region?

  • (a)Ghaggar Plain
  • (b)Nagaur Upland
  • (c)Banas Plain
  • (d)Luni Basin
  Answer(3) — AFRI's dryland manual lists the Banas Plain in the Eastern Plain region. Option (1), the Ghaggar Plain, option (2), the Nagaur Upland, and option (4), the Luni Basin, are all parts of the Bangur in the Western Sandy Plain.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Kantli is the only river of which region of Rajasthan?

  • (a)Shekhawati
  • (b)Ghaggar Plain
  • (c)Godwar
  • (d)Mewar Plain
  Answer(1) — AFRI names the seasonal Kantli as the only river of the Shekhawati region. Option (2), the Ghaggar Plain, has only the Ghaggar Nali in the old Ghaggar bed; option (3), Godwar, is drained by the Sukri towards the Luni; option (4), the Mewar Plain, is part of the Banas plain.