Indian Geography Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 19)

The Palakkad Gap, also called the Palghat Gap, is the only major natural break in the Western Ghats.

Both the 1993 Latur and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes led to significant upward revisions of India’s seismic zoning map, showing the system responding to real events.

BIS withdrew the 2025 code with its new Zone VI in March 2026, after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs raised construction-cost concerns, reverting to IS 1893:2016.

India’s seismic zoning system is set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) under IS 1893.

Zone V covers the Himalayan belt, Northeast India, parts of Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, and the Rann of Kutch.

India’s current system has four zones: Zone II (low), Zone III (moderate), Zone IV (high), and Zone V (very high).

The Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve spans nearly 7,770 square kilometres and includes Pin Valley National Park, Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, Sarchu, and Chandertal.

UNESCO’s September 2025 designation made Lahaul-Spiti India’s first high-altitude Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve, and its 13th UNESCO Biosphere Reserve overall.

Spiti holds some of the highest known densities of snow leopards anywhere in the species’ global range, supported by a strong blue-sheep prey base.

Ladakh typically receives under 100 millimetres of rainfall annually, among the lowest anywhere in India.

The Cold Desert of Ladakh and Spiti sits in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, which blocks most monsoon moisture from reaching it.

In 1993, Loktak was added to the Ramsar Montreux Record, a list of wetland sites whose ecological character is under threat, largely due to the Ithai Barrage’s impact.

Keibul Lamjao National Park is the last natural home of the sangai, or Manipur brow-antlered deer, the state animal of Manipur.

Phumdis are floating mats of soil, vegetation, and organic matter, the feature that makes Loktak Lake so distinctive.

A study by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute found the cause was avian botulism, a toxin-driven disease, linked to that year’s unusually heavy rainfall — not illegal salt mining, as many initially suspected.

In November 2019, nearly 23,000 migratory birds, across 25 species, died near Sambhar Lake within days.

Sambhar Lake produces about 196,000 tonnes of salt a year, nearly 8.7% of India’s total salt production.

Sambhar Lake lies in east-central Rajasthan. Britannica calls it the largest lake in India. It is an ephemeral salt lake of about 230 sq km. Salt sheets often cover its bed. Salt pans work on its shore. The Rann of Kachchh, another big salt area, lies in Gujarat.

The correct answer is to avoid escalating a maritime boundary dispute with Pakistan. Pakistan objected to India’s 2009 western submission in 2020 and 2021. In 2023 the CLCS suspended its review. India then split the western claim into two parts. It says the India-Pakistan boundary is yet to be delimited and that the filing does not prejudice it. The CLCS did not rule the area Pakistan’s. Memory hook: the CLCS paused, India split, the boundary stays open.

The correct answer is The Central Arabian Sea. In April 2025 India sent the UN two new executive summaries for its western offshore region. One covers the Central Arabian Sea and one the Northern Arabian Sea. They replaced the 2009 western submission. The UN summary lists coordinates; the 10,000 sq km figure in the question comes from press reports. The Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea and Laccadive Sea were not part of it. Memory hook: the 2025 fix was in the Arabian Sea.

The correct answer is 200 nautical miles. India’s Maritime Zones Act sets the EEZ limit at 200 nm from the baseline. UNCLOS gives the coastal state sovereign rights over resources in this belt. A 2001 Lok Sabha reply put India’s EEZ at 2.02 million sq km. Memory hook: 12 for the territorial sea, 24 for the contiguous zone, 200 for the EEZ.

The correct answer is a dam of about 60 km that would make a freshwater reservoir. Down To Earth describes a 64.16 km dam from Ghogha to Hansot. It would trap the waters of 12 rivers. The 2026 Rajya Sabha reply calls it one of the world’s largest coastal freshwater reservoirs. It is not a floating bridge, a wind farm or a power-only barrage. Memory hook: Kalpasar means freshwater lake.

The correct answer is coral reefs and mangroves. The marine sanctuary was set up in 1980, and a core area became a national park in 1982. The reserve primarily protects corals and mangroves. It holds about 40 hard coral species and seven mangrove species. Alpine grasslands and desert scrub are not part of it. Memory hook: reefs and mangroves on the Jamnagar coast.

The correct answer is the Narmada, Tapi, Mahi and Sabarmati. These rivers carry fresh water and heavy silt into the Gulf of Khambhat. NASA also lists the Shetrunji among the major rivers. The Godavari and Krishna flow to the Bay of Bengal. The Ganga and the Indus systems lie far to the north. Memory hook: all four flow west into the Arabian Sea.

The Nehru Trophy snake boat race has run since 1952, when Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated its first edition, featuring long chundan vallam snake boats racing near Punnamada.