UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 55 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Teesta River
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectGeography
- TopicIndian Geography
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeStatement
With reference to river Teesta, consider the following statements:
1. The source of river Teesta is the same as that of Brahmaputra but it flows through Sikkim.
2. River Rangeet originates in Sikkim and it is a tributary of river Teesta.
3. River Teesta flows into Bay of Bengal on the border of India and Bangladesh.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 only
Verdict
The answer is 2 only. The Rangeet is a tributary of the Teesta, but the Teesta does not share the Brahmaputra's source and does not reach the Bay of Bengal directly.
Analysis
Statement 2 is CORRECT. The Rangeet rises in Sikkim and joins the Teesta near the Teesta Bridge, below Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Statement 1 is INCORRECT. The Teesta rises from the Pahunri or Teesta Kangse glacier in the Sikkim Himalaya, whereas the Brahmaputra rises far away in western Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo. Statement 3 is INCORRECT. The Teesta flows south into West Bengal and then into Bangladesh, where it merges with the Brahmaputra system rather than entering the Bay of Bengal on the India and Bangladesh border.
How to crack it
Statement 1 fails on a general principle rather than a detail, since two rivers with different courses through different ranges cannot share a glacier source, and the Brahmaputra's Tibetan origin is one of the best known facts in Indian geography. Then remember that most north Bengal rivers are tributaries within the Ganga and Brahmaputra system rather than independent rivers reaching the sea. The PDF gives no usable source for this row.