UKPSC Prelims 2024 General Studies Paper-I · Question 23 of 147

Correct — A, Kiogad / Kioghād.

The Girthi Ganga is a high-Himalayan river of Chamoli district. It rises from glaciers west of the Unta Dhura pass, cuts a narrow gorge westward, and joins the Dhauliganga in the Niti valley near Malari and Kurkuti.

Inside that gorge the Girthi receives the Kiogad / Kioghād (Kio Gad) at a spot called Girthi Dobala. That is the pairing the key rewards: the Kio Gad feeds the Girthi, and the Girthi feeds the Dhauliganga.

The idea to carry away: read the suffix. In Garhwali and Kumaoni a 'gad' is a hill stream, and the stem asks for a stream that feeds a border-valley river. The key's answer is the one name that carries that word.

• (b)
  Kalsa river — Kalsa is a separate Uttarakhand river name that the official key does not pair with the Girthi. The stream the Girthi actually receives in its gorge, at Girthi Dobala, is the Kio Gad.

  If you chose this because it is styled a 'river', notice that the stem asks for a stream: the Girthi's feeder is a gad, a hill stream, and that word appears in the keyed option.

• (c)
  Baur river — The Baur belongs to the smaller rivers of Nainital district. The district administration lists it with the Gaula, Bhakra and Dabka among its rivulets, most of them dammed for irrigation.

  That places it in the Kumaon foothills, a long way from the Niti valley of Chamoli where the Girthi meets the Dhauliganga.

• (d)
  Rani Dhara — In hill usage a 'dhara' is a spring or a spring-fed flow, the smallest unit in the drainage vocabulary. The key attaches the Girthi to a 'gad', the Kio Gad, which reaches it at Girthi Dobala.

  Rani Dhara is a name the key does not attach to the Girthi. Learn the Girthi by its confirmed feeder and its confluence rather than by any option that merely sounds local.

A tributary hierarchy runs in steps. A hill stream (gad) feeds a valley river (ganga), which feeds a trunk river, which feeds the Ganga. For the Girthi the chain is Kio Gad → Girthi Ganga → Dhauliganga → Alaknanda → Ganga, with the Ganga taking its name at Devprayag.

A question about 'a tributary of the Girthi' is therefore asking one step higher than 'a tributary of the Dhauliganga'.

• The Girthi Ganga rises from glaciers west of the Unta Dhura pass and flows west through a narrow gorge to the Niti valley.
• The Kio Gad (Kiogad) meets the Girthi at Girthi Dobala, inside the gorge, above the Girthi's confluence with the Dhauliganga.
• The Girthi joins the Dhauliganga in the Niti valley of Chamoli district, near Malari and Kurkuti.
• The Dhauliganga rises near the Niti pass and receives the Rishiganga just below Reni, near Tapovan.
• The Dhauliganga meets the Alaknanda at Vishnuprayag, just upstream of Joshimath.
• The Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi at Devprayag, and the combined river is called the Ganga from there.
• In Garhwali and Kumaoni usage a 'gad' is a hill stream, while a 'dhara' usually names a spring or spring-fed flow.
• The Unta Dhura pass at the head of the Girthi valley leads over to the Johar valley of Pithoragarh, on the Milam–Munsiyari side.
• The Baur is listed by the Nainital district administration among its smaller rivulets, most of which are dammed for irrigation.

• Reading 'tributary of the Girthi' as 'tributary of the Dhauliganga'. The Girthi is itself a tributary, so its feeders sit one level further up the chain.
• Mixing up the two Dhauligangas. The Garhwal one receives the Girthi and joins the Alaknanda at Vishnuprayag; the Kumaon one joins the Kali at Tawaghat.
• Placing the Girthi in the Rishiganga system. It enters the Dhauliganga directly, near Malari, well upstream of where the Rishiganga comes in below Reni.
• Choosing the option that sounds most like a full 'river'. The stem asks for a stream, and the Girthi's feeder is a gad, a hill stream.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Girthi Ganga, which rises west of the Unta Dhura pass, is a tributary of which river?

  • (a)Bhagirathi
  • (b)Dhauliganga (Garhwal)
  • (c)Rishiganga
  • (d)Pindar
  Answerb — The Girthi joins the Dhauliganga in the Niti valley near Malari. The Bhagirathi is the other Ganga headstream, west of the Alaknanda basin. The Rishiganga is a separate Dhauliganga feeder from the Nanda Devi basin, joining below Reni. The Pindar meets the Alaknanda at Karnaprayag.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Dhauliganga of Chamoli district meets the Alaknanda at:

  • (a)Devprayag
  • (b)Nandprayag
  • (c)Karnaprayag
  • (d)Vishnuprayag
  Answerd — The Dhauliganga enters the Alaknanda at Vishnuprayag, just upstream of Joshimath. Devprayag is where the Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi; Nandprayag is the Nandakini confluence; Karnaprayag is the Pindar confluence.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which statement is correct about the Dhauliganga that receives the Girthi Ganga?

  • (a)It joins the Kali at Tawaghat
  • (b)It joins the Alaknanda at Vishnuprayag
  • (c)It joins the Bhagirathi at Devprayag
  • (d)It rises from the Milam glacier
  Answerb — The Girthi feeds the Garhwal Dhauliganga, which ends at Vishnuprayag. Option a describes the other Dhauliganga, in Kumaon, which joins the Kali. Option c is the Alaknanda's own confluence, not the Dhauliganga's. Option d describes the Gori Ganga of Pithoragarh, which rises from the Milam glacier.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following joins the Dhauliganga just below Reni village, near Tapovan?

  • (a)Girthi Ganga
  • (b)Rishiganga
  • (c)Nandakini
  • (d)Birahi Ganga
  Answerb — The Rishiganga, draining the Nanda Devi basin, meets the Dhauliganga just below Reni. The Girthi joins the Dhauliganga much further up the valley, near Malari. The Nandakini and the Birahi Ganga are Alaknanda tributaries, entering at Nandprayag and near Birahi respectively.