UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 74 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Kohima to Kottayam Route
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectGeography
- TopicIndian Geography
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
If you travel by road from Kohima to Kottayam, what is the minimum number of States within India through which you can travel, including the origin and the destination?
Show answer
Answer: B. 7
Verdict
The answer is 7. The shortest road route from Kohima to Kottayam passes through seven states including origin and destination.
Analysis
The route runs Nagaland, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Assam is unavoidable because it surrounds the other North-Eastern states and carries the only road link westward. West Bengal is unavoidable because of the Siliguri corridor, the narrow neck of Indian territory connecting the North-East to the rest of the country. Thereafter the east coast route through Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu and Kerala is the direct line.
Source
Standard atlas.
How to crack it
This is an unconventional question but it is fully solvable by tracing the map, and the two chokepoints do most of the work. Any journey out of the North-East must pass through Assam and then the Siliguri corridor in West Bengal, which fixes the first three states. Then take the shortest coastal line south. Counting states along a route is a genuine skill worth practising on the map, since UPSC has used this format more than once.