SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 7 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

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SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Consider the following statements regarding India’s water-sharing treaties with its neighbours: 1) The Mahakali Treaty signed with Nepal in 1996 includes provisions for integrated development of the Mahakali River and the Pancheshwar Project. 2) The Ganga Water Treaty signed with Bangladesh in 1996 allows for the sharing of Ganga waters at Farakka throughout the entire year. Which of the statements above is/are correct?

(a)Only 1 is Correct
(b)Only 2 is Correct
(c)Both 1 and 2 are Correct
(d)Neither 1 nor 2 are Correct

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Statement 1 is right. The Mahakali Treaty, signed with Nepal on 12 February 1996, is a treaty on the integrated development of the Mahakali River, covering the Sarada Barrage, the Tanakpur Barrage and the Pancheshwar Project.

Statement 2 is wrong. The Ganga Water Treaty of 12 December 1996 shares the flow at Farakka in the lean season, 1 January to 31 May, in ten-day periods → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Only 2 is Correct — Reverses the verdict. The Mahakali Treaty does provide for the Pancheshwar Project, while the Ganga treaty covers the lean season, January to May, not the whole year.
(c)
Both 1 and 2 are Correct — Needs statement 2 to be true. Sharing at Farakka runs from 1 January to 31 May, the dry months, not throughout the year.
(d)
Neither 1 nor 2 are Correct — Statement 1 is true. The Mahakali Treaty's own subject is the integrated development of the river, including the Pancheshwar multipurpose project.

Concept

The Mahakali Treaty (12 February 1996, signed by P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sher Bahadur Deuba) covers three projects: the Sarada Barrage, the Tanakpur Barrage and the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project. It also set up a Mahakali River Commission.

The Ganga Water Treaty (12 December 1996, H.D. Deve Gowda and Sheikh Hasina) is a 30-year agreement on sharing the river's dry-season flow at the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal.

The trap in statement 2 is throughout the entire year. The treaty was written for the dry months, when there is least water to share, and one absolute phrase makes the statement false.

Key facts

The Mahakali Treaty with Nepal was signed on 12 February 1996.
It covers the Sarada Barrage, the Tanakpur Barrage and the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project.
The Ganga Water Treaty with Bangladesh was signed on 12 December 1996 for 30 years.
It shares the Ganga's flow at Farakka in ten-day periods from 1 January to 31 May.

Study next

Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 with PakistanFarakka Barrage and the HooghlyKosi and Gandak agreements with Nepal

Common traps

Missing the absolute phrase 'throughout the entire year' in statement 2.
Confusing the Mahakali Treaty (Nepal, February 1996) with the Ganga treaty (Bangladesh, December 1996) because both date from 1996.

Here two water treaties with neighbours are tested in one pair of statements, with an absolute phrase planted in the false one.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: History — all 218 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.