Mountains and Plateaus of India

Option A is correct. Moisture-bearing southwest monsoon winds reach the Western Ghats from the Arabian Sea. Forced to rise along the western slopes, the air cools, condenses, and produces heavy orographic rainfall there. After crossing the crest, the descending air is drier and warmer, creating a rain-shadow region over much of the interior Deccan Plateau. This is why the western slopes are generally wetter than nearby areas east of the Ghats. The effect cannot produce uniform rainfall, permanent glaciers in the Eastern Ghats, or marine lagoons in the inland Aravalli. The west-wet, interior-dry contrast is the key result.

Option B is correct. The Meghalaya Plateau, including the Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia hills, is commonly interpreted as a detached northeastern extension of the Peninsular Plateau. The Rajmahal–Garo gap and intervening lowland region separate it geographically from the main peninsular block, while its ancient plateau rocks support the broader geological relationship. The Palghat Gap lies in the southern Western Ghats, Karakoram Pass belongs to the high Himalaya, and Guru Shikhar is the highest point of the Aravalli Range. Those features cannot explain the Meghalaya Plateau’s detached position. Thus the Rajmahal–Garo gap is the relevant clue.

Option C is correct. Himadri, also called the Greater or Great Himalaya, is the northernmost and highest principal Himalayan range. Its great elevation means that temperatures remain very low, allowing extensive snowfields and glaciers to persist. It contains or is associated with some of the highest Himalayan summits and acts as the source region for many important rivers. The Western Ghats are much lower and tropical, the Deccan is a basaltic plateau rather than a glaciated high range, and the Aravalli is an old, heavily eroded mountain system. Therefore Himadri’s height and position explain its glaciers and lofty peaks.

Option D is correct. Doon valleys are found between the outer Shiwalik range and the Middle, or Lesser, Himalaya. Dehradun is a well-known example of a Doon valley.

Option A is correct because iron and steel production requires large amounts of iron ore and coal, along with other minerals. The region's nearby mineral deposits reduce the difficulty and cost of transporting these raw materials. Other factors also support industry, but the mineral base is the main advantage asked about.

Option B is correct because the Nilgiri region is where the Eastern and Western Ghats approach one another and are geographically connected. The other choices name unrelated ranges or river systems.

Option C is correct. The general eastward slope of much of the Deccan Plateau helps explain why the Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery flow generally eastward and drain into the Bay of Bengal. This describes the broad pattern, not every small stream.

Option D is correct. The Aravalli is an ancient mountain range, and its comparatively low, worn-down relief is consistent with prolonged erosion over geological time. Low height alone does not establish a range's age, but the Aravalli's ancient geological history supports this conclusion.

Option A is correct. The Palghat Gap is a broad, relatively low natural opening in the Western Ghats, providing a route through the mountain barrier. It lies between the Palakkad area of Kerala and the Coimbatore region of Tamil Nadu.

Option C is correct. Anamudi is in Kerala, in the southern Western Ghats, and rises to about 2,695 metres. It is widely recognised as the highest peak of the Western Ghats and of peninsular India, so it is not a peak of the Eastern Ghats or Aravalli, or a plain.

Option B is correct. Kanchenjunga lies on the India–Nepal border, with its Indian side in Sikkim. Nanda Devi is a major Himalayan peak in Uttarakhand. The other options place these peaks in unrelated regions.

Option C is correct. The Malwa Plateau is part of the Central Highlands, in the northwestern part of the Peninsular Plateau. It lies mainly in western Madhya Pradesh and extends into adjoining areas of Rajasthan. The other options describe coastal, island, or glacial regions rather than Malwa.

Option D is correct. Bundelkhand is an old hard-rock region. Over a long time, weathering breaks down rock and erosion removes loosened material, helping expose the underlying resistant rocks. Coral growth, glacial deposition, and tides do not explain this inland plateau landscape.

Mahendragiri, Shevaroy, and Javadi are important hill groups associated with the Eastern Ghats, so option B is correct. The Eastern Ghats run discontinuously along the eastern side of Peninsular India, roughly parallel to the Bay of Bengal coast. They are broken by major rivers such as the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri, unlike a continuous mountain wall. Mahendragiri is in the Odisha region, while the Shevaroy and Javadi hills are in Tamil Nadu. The Western Ghats lie along the Arabian Sea side, the Aravalli is mainly in north-western India, and the Karakoram belongs to the high Trans-Himalayan region; therefore options A, C, and D do not fit.

Option D is correct because the Kaimur and Bhander ranges are treated as important escarpment and plateau units of the Vindhyan system in Central India. The Vindhyan structural region extends across parts of central and northern Peninsular India and is associated with ancient sedimentary rocks and tablelands. Kaimur forms a prominent northern escarpment of the Vindhyan region, while Bhander is another related plateau or range unit. The Nilgiri junction belongs to southern India, the Karakoram is a Trans-Himalayan system, and Lakshadweep consists mainly of coral islands. Thus none of options A, B, or C provides a geographical or geological connection with Kaimur and Bhander.

Option A is correct. Dharwar and Singhbhum represent parts of the ancient Peninsular Indian shield, one of the oldest and most stable geological regions of India. Their rocks include very old crystalline and metamorphic formations, and the regions are especially important for metallic mineral resources such as iron ore, manganese, gold, and related ores. This ancient rocky foundation helps explain why mining and mineral-based industries developed there. They are not coral islands, which are formed in warm shallow seas; they are not the young alluvial plains built by the Ganga; and they do not belong to the young folded Himalayan ranges. The key clues are old rocks, stable terrain, and mineral wealth.

Option B is correct because the Balaghat and Harishchandra ranges are associated with the Deccan Plateau and the western part of Peninsular India. These hill systems occur in the elevated, old-rock terrain of the Maharashtra and adjoining central-western Indian region. They are studied as parts of the dissected plateau landscape rather than as young folded mountains. The Himalayan glacial region has a completely different origin, relief, and climate. The Garo Hills belong to the Meghalaya Plateau in north-east India, while the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta is a low, young depositional plain. Therefore the location, geological age, and plateau setting all support option B.

Option C is correct because the Western Ghats combine substantial relief, elevation differences, heavy orographic rainfall, and many habitat types within a relatively narrow zone. Moisture from the Arabian Sea monsoon, variation in altitude, evergreen forests, montane grasslands, valleys, and rain-shadow areas create distinct ecological niches. Long-term geological stability in parts of the region has also allowed species to diversify, making the Western Ghats a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot. Sandy plains alone cannot create this habitat variety; widespread Himalayan glaciation is not the controlling condition; and the Ghats are not mountains formed from coral reefs. The combined physical setting, rather than one isolated factor, explains the exceptional biodiversity.

Option B is correct. Barail, Mishmi, Abor, and Dafla are names associated with the complex hill and mountain regions of north-eastern India, particularly the eastern Himalayan and Purvanchal surroundings of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. These hills form part of a highly dissected and folded terrain that continues eastward toward the ranges bordering Myanmar. The names may refer to different local hill groups rather than one single continuous range, but their regional association is the key point. They are not units of the southern Western Ghats, the Aravalli of Rajasthan, or the Vindhyan system of Central India. Their north-eastern location and relation to the eastern Himalayan hill belt make option B unambiguous.

Option A is correct. Doons are longitudinal valleys between broadly parallel Himalayan ranges, commonly between the Shiwaliks and the Lesser Himalaya. The intervening low area is a structural depression in which sediments have accumulated; Dehradun is a well-known example. The other options describe marine, volcanic-plateau, or desert landforms.

Option A is correct. The Meghalaya Plateau includes the Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia Hills, with the Shillong area forming its central highland. Valleys and streams divide and dissect parts of this upland region. The other options refer to landforms or features from unrelated regions.

Option A is correct. The Patkai and Naga Hills are in northeastern India and form part of the Purvanchal, or Eastern Hills, system along the India–Myanmar border region. The Western Ghats, Deccan black-soil areas, and Ganga floodplains are different physical features in other parts of India.

Option A is correct. The Bastar Plateau and the uplands of the wider Dandakaranya region belong to the central-eastern part of Peninsular India. This region includes plateaus, hills, valleys, and forested uplands. Lakshadweep is a coral-island region, the Shiwaliks are part of the Himalaya, and coastal marshes are low-lying coastal features.

Option A is correct. The Ranchi and Hazaribagh plateaus are commonly treated as subdivisions of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand. Their elevated, dissected terrain belongs to the same broad plateau region. Coastal lagoons, Nilgiri peaks, and Karakoram glaciers are different landforms in other parts of India.

Option A is correct. Parasnath, also known as Shikharji, is a prominent hill in Jharkhand within the Chota Nagpur plateau region. Its location and surrounding upland setting distinguish it from the Western Ghats, Aravalli region, and Ladakh’s cold desert.