Consider the following statements : A. The Kashmir Himalayas are famous for ‘Karewa’ formations. B. Nalagarh Dun is the largest of all Duns. C. Namcha Barwa mountain peak is located in Arunachal Himalayas. D. ‘Valley of Flowers’ is situated in Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas. Code :

Correct — option (3), A, C and D are correct.

All four statements follow the regional divisions of the Himalayas in NCERT's Class XI textbook India: Physical Environment.

Statement A is correct. NCERT says the Kashmir Himalayas are 'also famous for Karewa formations, which are useful for the cultivation of Zafran, a local variety of saffron.'

Statement B is wrong. NCERT names Nalagarh dun among the duns of the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas, but says 'Dehra Dun is the largest of all the duns', about 35–45 km long and 22–25 km wide.

Statement C is correct. Under the Arunachal Himalayas, NCERT lists Kangtu and Namcha Barwa as important peaks of the region.

Statement D is correct. NCERT places the famous 'Valley of flowers' in its Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas division; the valley lies in Uttarakhand.

A, C and D hold and B does not, so the code is option (3), A, C and D are correct.

The idea to remember: Karewa = Kashmir; the largest dun is Dehra Dun, not Nalagarh.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  A, B, C and D are correct. — This code accepts statement B, but B is wrong. NCERT lists Nalagarh dun as one of the duns of the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas and names Dehra Dun as the largest of all the duns.

  The other three statements are correct, so the code would hold only if B had named Dehra Dun.

• (2)
  B and C are correct. — This code gets three statements wrong. It accepts B, though NCERT names Dehra Dun, not Nalagarh dun, as the largest dun.

  It also rejects A and D, which are both correct: NCERT ties Karewa formations to the Kashmir Himalayas and places the Valley of flowers in the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas.

• (4)
  A, B and C are correct. — This code accepts B, which is wrong, and rejects D, which is correct.

  NCERT places the famous Valley of flowers in the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas, the same division as the Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines. The largest dun in that division is Dehra Dun, not Nalagarh.

NCERT divides the Himalayas, on the basis of relief, alignment of ranges and other geomorphological features, into five sub-divisions: the Kashmir or Northwestern Himalayas, the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas, the Darjiling and Sikkim Himalayas, the Arunachal Himalayas, and the Eastern Hills and Mountains.

Karewas, in NCERT's words, are 'the thick deposits of glacial clay and other materials embedded with moraines.'

Duns are longitudinal valleys. NCERT gives Jammu dun and Pathankot dun as examples in the Kashmir region. Among the important duns of the Himachal and Uttarakhand region it names the Chandigarh-Kalka, Nalagarh, Dehra, Harike and Kota duns; that list is not complete.

Key facts

• NCERT: the Kashmir Himalayas are famous for Karewa formations, useful for cultivating Zafran, a local variety of saffron.
• NCERT: Dehra Dun is the largest of all the duns, about 35–45 km long and 22–25 km wide.
• NCERT lists Kangtu and Namcha Barwa as important peaks of its Arunachal Himalayas division.
• NCERT places the Valley of flowers in the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas; the valley lies in Uttarakhand.
• UNESCO's property 'Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks' was inscribed in 1988, with its boundaries modified in 2005.

Common traps

• Taking any dun on NCERT's list as the largest: Nalagarh dun is on the list, but NCERT names Dehra Dun as the largest.
• Reading a regional division as a state: NCERT's Arunachal Himalayas run from east of the Bhutan Himalayas to the Diphu pass, and Namcha Barwa, listed there, lies in south-eastern Tibet according to its Wikipedia article.
• Rejecting D because the valley is not in Himachal Pradesh: 'Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas' is NCERT's name for one division, and the valley lies in its Uttarakhand part.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to NCERT's India: Physical Environment, which of the following is the largest of all the duns?

  • (a)Nalagarh dun
  • (b)Dehra Dun
  • (c)Jammu dun
  • (d)Kota dun
  Answer(2) — NCERT names Dehra Dun as the largest of all the duns. Options (1) and (4) are other duns of the Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas; option (3) is a dun of the Kashmir Himalayas.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following pairs of feature and Himalayan division, as given by NCERT, is not correctly matched?

  • (a)Karewa formations – Kashmir Himalayas
  • (b)Kangtu peak – Arunachal Himalayas
  • (c)Dehra Dun – Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas
  • (d)Zoji La – Darjiling and Sikkim Himalayas
  Answer(4) — NCERT places Zoji La, on the Great Himalayas, in the Kashmir Himalayas. Option (1) is correct; option (2) is correct, as Kangtu is listed with Namcha Barwa; option (3) is correct, as Dehra Dun is among that division's duns.