Which of the following statement is correct? (1) Ram Ganga river joins the Ganga at Kannauj. (2) River Betwa joins the Yamuna near Prayagraj. Select the correct answer using the code given below –
- (a)Only 2
- (b)Both 1 and 2
- (c)Neither 1 nor 2
- (d)Only 1
Correct — D, Only 1. Statement 1 is right: the Ramganga, a Himalayan tributary rising in Uttarakhand, joins the Ganga near Kannauj (the confluence lies on the Ganga close to Kannauj, at Katri Chandapur in Hardoi district on the opposite bank). Statement 2 is wrong: the Betwa joins the Yamuna not near Prayagraj but at Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh — well upstream of Prayagraj, where it is the Yamuna itself that meets the Ganga at the Sangam. Since only statement 1 is correct, the answer is 'Only 1'.
- (a)Only 2 — Reverses the truth — statement 2 (Betwa 'near Prayagraj') is the false one; the Betwa actually meets the Yamuna at Hamirpur. It is statement 1 that is correct.
- (b)Both 1 and 2 — Statement 2 is false (the Betwa joins the Yamuna at Hamirpur, not near Prayagraj), so both statements cannot be correct.
- (c)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 1 is in fact correct (the Ramganga joins the Ganga near Kannauj), so 'neither' is wrong.
In the Ganga system, the Ramganga is a left-bank Himalayan tributary that rises in the Kumaon Himalayas of Uttarakhand and joins the Ganga in the Kannauj/Hardoi area. The Betwa (Vetravati) is a Yamuna tributary that rises in the Vindhyas of Madhya Pradesh, flows north-east through Bundelkhand, and merges with the Yamuna at Hamirpur (UP) — upstream of Prayagraj, where it is the Yamuna that joins the Ganga (the Sangam).
The trap in statement 2 is 'Prayagraj' — students link Prayagraj with a great confluence (the Ganga-Yamuna Sangam), so 'Betwa joins the Yamuna near Prayagraj' sounds plausible. But the Betwa's confluence with the Yamuna is at Hamirpur; Prayagraj is where the Yamuna meets the Ganga. Statement 1's Ramganga-Kannauj pairing is the accurate one.
- Ramganga: Himalayan tributary from Uttarakhand; joins the Ganga near Kannauj (confluence at Katri Chandapur, Hardoi district).
- Betwa (Vetravati): rises in the Vindhya Range (Raisen, MP); joins the Yamuna at Hamirpur, UP — not at Prayagraj.
- At Prayagraj it is the Yamuna that joins the Ganga (the Sangam), not the Betwa.
- Major right-bank tributaries of the Yamuna: Chambal, Sind, Betwa, Ken (from the Malwa/Bundelkhand side).
- Assuming a Yamuna-tributary confluence 'near Prayagraj' — Prayagraj is the Yamuna-Ganga Sangam; the Betwa joins at Hamirpur
- Confusing the Ramganga (Ganga tributary, near Kannauj) with the Yamuna's tributaries
UPSC/UPPSC test tributary-to-main-river matching and confluence locations, usually as statement-based or pair-matching items.
Consider the following pairs: Tributary River – Main River 1. Chambal : Narmada 2. Sone : Yamuna 3. Manas : Brahmaputra. Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 3 only
Answer(d) 3 only
Same concept — which tributary joins which main river (the Chambal joins the Yamuna, the Son joins the Ganga), exactly the tributary-confluence reasoning this question tests.
Consider the following pairs: Wetlands — Confluence of rivers 1. Harike Wetlands : Confluence of Beas and Satluj/Sutlej 2. Keoladeo Ghana National Park : Confluence of Banas and Chambal 3. Kolleru Lake : Confluence of Musi and Krishna. Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(a) 1 only
Same theme — identifying where rivers join (confluences), testing precise knowledge of which river meets which, as in this Ramganga-Ganga / Betwa-Yamuna item.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Betwa river joins which of the following rivers?
- (a)Ganga
- (b)Yamuna
- (c)Chambal
- (d)Son
Answer(b) Yamuna — at Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh.
- practice — not a real PYQ
At Prayagraj (Allahabad), the Ganga is joined by which river at the Sangam?
- (a)Betwa
- (b)Ghaghara
- (c)Yamuna
- (d)Gomti
Answer(c) Yamuna — the Ganga-Yamuna confluence is the Sangam at Prayagraj.