Mountains and Plateaus of India

The governing concept is the identification of associated places within a mountain region. Ooty is a famous hill station in the Nilgiri Hills, Doddabetta is the highest peak of the Nilgiri massif, and Mukurthi is a notable highland and protected area in the same South Indian hill region. Thus option B is correct. Naga Hills are in the north-east, Mishmi Hills are in Arunachal Pradesh, and Rajmahal Hills are in eastern India. Their locations are entirely different. The shared southern setting and the close geographic relationship among Ooty, Doddabetta, and Mukurthi provide the decisive evidence for the Nilgiri identification.

The governing concept is the identification of a physical feature through its location and regional association. Guru Shikhar is the highest point of the Aravalli Range, and it is situated in the Mount Abu area of Rajasthan. The pairing in option D therefore supplies both the decisive place name and the correct state. Ooty is associated with the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu, Pachmarhi is a hill station in the Satpura region of Madhya Pradesh, and Cherrapunji is in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya. Those are genuine geographical associations, but none identifies Guru Shikhar. The location clue makes option D the only unambiguous answer.

The governing concept is the regional association of a mountain peak and a hill station within India’s peninsular relief. Dhupgarh is the highest peak of the Satpura Range and is located near Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. Pachmarhi is a well-known hill station and plateau settlement of the same Satpura region. Therefore, option A correctly gives the geographical basis for studying them together. The Eastern Ghats are a separate discontinuous hill system and do not form deltas. Karakoram glaciers are high-altitude ice features far to the north, while Meghalaya’s rainfall sites belong to the Khasi Hills and have no direct regional identity with Dhupgarh and Pachmarhi.

The governing concept is the identification of related locations within a single mountain group. Ooty is a well-known hill station in the Nilgiri Hills, Doddabetta is the highest peak of the Nilgiri range, and Mukurthi refers to the highland area and protected landscape in the same Nilgiri region. Their common physical setting is therefore the Nilgiri Hills, making option B correct. The Naga Hills are in north-eastern India, the Mishmi Hills are in the eastern Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh, and the Rajmahal Hills are in eastern India near the Jharkhand–West Bengal region. None of those ranges contains all three named places.

The governing concept is the alternate geographical name and regional extent of a major Indian mountain system. Sahyadri is the name commonly used for the Western Ghats, especially along the western side of peninsular India. Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, and Khandala are well-known hill stations or highland locations in Maharashtra situated within or closely associated with this Western Ghats belt. Therefore, option D is correct. Sikkim’s Himalayan peaks belong to a different northern mountain system, the Aravalli Range lies mainly in Rajasthan and nearby regions, and Assam’s river islands are fluvial landforms. None of these alternatives explains the common Sahyadri connection.