Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer from the codes given below : List – I (District) – List – II (River) A. Udaipur – i. Sabi & Ruparel B. Bundi – ii. Gambhiri & Parvati C. Bharatpur – iii. Som & Jakham D. Alwar – iv. Kural Codes :

Correct — option (4), A-iii, B-iv, C-ii, D-i.

The Ruparel rises in the Udainath hills of Thanagazi in Alwar district. Many right-bank tributaries of the Sabi rise in the hills of Alwar, and the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas of Rajasthan put about 64% of the Sabi basin in Alwar district as it then stood. So D-i: Alwar – Sabi & Ruparel.

The Som and the Jakham belong to the Mahi system of the hilly south, and in the same atlas Udaipur district held the largest share of the Mahi basin in Rajasthan. So A-iii: Udaipur – Som & Jakham.

The Gambhir (Gambhiri) and the Parbati (Parvati) are eastern rivers flowing towards the Yamuna. The Gambhir crosses Bharatpur district, and its tributary the Parbati drains mainly Dholpur, which was part of Bharatpur district until 1982. So C-ii: Bharatpur – Gambhiri & Parvati.

That leaves B-iv: Bundi – Kural. The Bundi District Gazetteer names the Kural as a main tributary of the Mej, which drains Bundi and falls into the Chambal. The full code is A-iii, B-iv, C-ii, D-i.

D-i and A-iii alone rule out options (1), (2) and (3).

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  A-iii, B-iv, C-i, D-ii — A and B are right, but C and D are swapped: Bharatpur gets Sabi & Ruparel, and Alwar gets Gambhiri & Parvati.

  The swap can look right because the Ruparel ends in Bharatpur district. But it rises in Alwar, and the 2013 atlas put about 71% of its catchment, and about 64% of the Sabi's, in Alwar district. Sabi & Ruparel are Alwar's pair.

• (2)
  A-iv, B-iii, C-ii, D-i — C and D are right, but A and B are swapped: Udaipur gets the Kural, and Bundi gets Som & Jakham.

  Som and Jakham are Mahi-system rivers of the south, draining towards the Mahi. Bundi lies in the Hadoti region of the south-east, in the Chambal system, and its river in this list is the Kural.

• (3)
  A-i, B-iii, C-ii, D-iv — Only C is right. This code sends Sabi & Ruparel to Udaipur, Som & Jakham to Bundi, and the Kural to Alwar.

  Each of those pairings puts a river on the wrong side of the state. The Sabi and Ruparel drain the hills of Alwar in north-eastern Rajasthan; the Som and Jakham drain the south; the Kural belongs to Bundi. Three of the four pairs are misplaced.

Rajasthan's rivers drain in three directions. The Mahi, with tributaries such as the Som and Jakham, flows to the Arabian Sea through Gujarat; the Luni also runs towards the Arabian Sea, ending in the Rann of Kutch.

The Chambal and its tributaries, and the eastern Gambhir with its tributary the Parbati, belong to the Yamuna basin and so drain to the Bay of Bengal.

Some rivers do not reach the sea. The Ruparel, for example, ends in the depression around Bharatpur city.

A river can cross several districts, and its catchment is often concentrated in one of them — in the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas, about 71% of the Ruparel's lay in Alwar, and about 83% of the Parbati's in Dholpur.

Key facts

• The Ruparel rises in the Udainath hills of Thanagazi, Alwar district, and ends in the depression around Bharatpur city.
• In the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas, about 64% of the Sabi basin in Rajasthan lay in Alwar district; the river leaves the state into Haryana.
• The Gambhir flows through Karauli and Bharatpur before entering Uttar Pradesh; the Parbati, whose basin lies mostly in Dholpur district, is its tributary.
• In the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas, Udaipur district held the largest share of the Mahi basin in Rajasthan, about 33%; the Som is the Mahi's main tributary in Dungarpur district.
• Baneshwar in Dungarpur district stands at the confluence of the Som and the Mahi; the Jakham is a tributary of the Som.

Common traps

• The Ruparel ends in Bharatpur district, but it rises in Alwar, and in the 2013 atlas most of its catchment lay there. Match a river to its main district, not only to where it ends.
• The name Parvati is shared: the Hadoti Parvati is a tributary of the Chambal, while the eastern Parbati is a tributary of the Gambhir. A separate Gambhiri also flows past Chittorgarh.
• District boundaries move. The Parbati is mainly a Dholpur river today, but Dholpur was part of Bharatpur district until 1982.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 and 2021 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Ruparel river of Rajasthan rises in the hills of which district ?

  • (a)Alwar
  • (b)Bharatpur
  • (c)Jaipur
  • (d)Sikar
  Answer(1) — The Ruparel rises in the Udainath hills of Thanagazi in Alwar. Option (2), Bharatpur, is where it ends, in the depression around Bharatpur city. Options (3) Jaipur and (4) Sikar hold parts of the Sabi's catchment, not the Ruparel's.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following rivers is a tributary of the Gambhir in eastern Rajasthan ?

  • (a)Parbati
  • (b)Kalisindh
  • (c)Som
  • (d)Luni
  Answer(1) — The Parbati, whose basin lies mostly in Dholpur district, is a tributary of the Gambhir. Option (2), the Kalisindh, is a Chambal tributary of the Hadoti region. Option (3), the Som, belongs to the Mahi system of the south. Option (4), the Luni, flows to the Rann of Kutch.