Which is not a correct match ? Lake – Location in State

Correct — option (4), Roopkund – Himachal Pradesh.

The stem asks for the pair that does not match, and that is option (4), Roopkund – Himachal Pradesh. Roopkund is in Uttarakhand.

The Hindu (29 June 2004) placed Roopkund Lake in Chamoli district of Uttaranchal, as Uttarakhand was then called, at an altitude of 5,029 metres in the lap of Trishul peak.

A 2019 study in Nature Communications notes that it is colloquially called Skeleton Lake, after the remains of several hundred ancient humans around its shores, and places it on the route of the Nanda Devi Raj Jat pilgrimage.

The other three pairs hold. Bhimtal is in Nainital district of Uttarakhand, Pulicat lies along the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh coast, and NCERT places Loktak lake at the centre of Manipur.

The idea to remember: Roopkund and Bhimtal are both Uttarakhand lakes; neither is in Himachal Pradesh.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Bhim Tal – Uttarakhand — This pair is correct, so it cannot be the answer. The official website of Nainital district, Government of Uttarakhand, puts Bhimtal about 22 km from Nainital at an altitude of 1,370 m, and says its lake is larger than Naini lake.

  Bhimtal is a lake of Uttarakhand's Nainital district, the same State as Roopkund. The district page also mentions a 17th-century Bhimeshwar temple complex along its dam.

• (2)
  Pulicat – Tamil Nadu — This pair holds, with a qualification. The Tamil Nadu Forest Department describes Pulicat as a saline backwater lake lying along the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh coast, and gives 153.67 sq km of it on the Tamil Nadu side.

  Pulicat lies partly in Tamil Nadu and partly in Andhra Pradesh, so the match is right for its Tamil Nadu part. A sand bar, Sriharikota island, closes it from the Bay of Bengal except for a shallow mouth at its southern end.

• (3)
  Loktak – Manipur — This pair is correct. NCERT's India: Physical Environment says the physiography of Manipur is unique for a large lake, Loktak, at its centre, surrounded by mountains on all sides.

  Loktak is Manipur's lake, so this match is right and cannot be the answer.

The four lakes in the options are of very different kinds.

Roopkund is a small high-altitude lake: the Nature Communications study gives its diameter as about 40 m. The Hindu reported that it stays frozen except for about a month when the ice melts.

Bhimtal is a hill lake in Nainital district, with a dam. Pulicat is a coastal backwater, closed from the sea by the Sriharikota sand bar except for a shallow southern mouth; the Tamil Nadu Forest Department calls it India's second largest brackish water lagoon after Chilka. Loktak lies in a basin ringed by mountains in Manipur.

Key facts

• The Hindu (2004) placed Roopkund Lake in Chamoli district of Uttaranchal, now Uttarakhand, at 5,029 metres, in the lap of Trishul peak.
• A 2019 Nature Communications study found the Roopkund skeletons in three genetic groups, deposited in at least two events about 1,000 years apart.
• Nainital district's official website puts Bhimtal about 22 km from Nainital, at 1,370 m, and calls its lake larger than Naini lake.
• The Tamil Nadu Forest Department describes Pulicat as a saline backwater along the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh coast, 153.67 sq km of it in Tamil Nadu.
• NCERT describes Loktak as a large lake at the centre of Manipur, surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Common traps

• Reading 'Himalayan lake' as 'Himachal lake': Roopkund lies in the Himalayas, but in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
• Rejecting Pulicat – Tamil Nadu because much of the lake lies in Andhra Pradesh: it lies along both States' coast, so the pair holds for its Tamil Nadu part.
• Placing Bhimtal in Himachal Pradesh because it is a hill lake: it is in Nainital district, Uttarakhand.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2016 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Roopkund, known as 'Skeleton Lake', lies in which district?

  • (a)Chamoli (Uttarakhand)
  • (b)Kullu (Himachal Pradesh)
  • (c)Nainital (Uttarakhand)
  • (d)Leh (Ladakh)
  Answer(1) — The Hindu placed Roopkund in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. Option (2) is in Himachal Pradesh, not Roopkund's State; option (3) is the district of Bhimtal; option (4) is in Ladakh.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Consider the following statements: A. Pulicat lake lies along the coast of both Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. B. Bhimtal lake is in Himachal Pradesh. Choose the correct option:

  • (a)Only A is correct.
  • (b)Only B is correct.
  • (c)Both A and B are correct.
  • (d)Neither A nor B is correct.
  Answer(1) — A is correct: the Tamil Nadu Forest Department describes Pulicat as lying along the Tamil Nadu–Andhra Pradesh coast. B is wrong: Bhimtal is in Nainital district, Uttarakhand. So options (2), (3) and (4) fail.