Rivers of India MCQ Questions with Answers

Deforestation removes trees and vegetation that hold soil together. Without this cover, rain and runoff easily detach soil, increasing erosion. The eroded soil is carried into rivers, clogging channels and raising the river bed (siltation). This reduces river capacity and can worsen flooding. Aforestation, reforestation, or bamboo plantation do not cause this effect; they help reduce erosion and sediment flow.

The river Godavari is called Vridha Ganga, meaning the 'old Ganga'. It is one of India's sacred rivers and is revered similarly to the Ganges in the north. The name reflects its important status and long tradition in southern India. Among the options, Krishna, Cauvery, and Narmada are not known by this epithet. The Godavari flows across central and southern India and empties into the Bay of Bengal, making it a major river system in the region.

Option A, slash and burn method of agriculture, exposes soil by clearing vegetation and burning residue. This removes protective cover and causes loose, ash-enriched soil to be easily washed away by rain, especially in upper catchments where slopes are steep. Other methods keep living vegetation cover or reduce soil disturbance, so erosion risk is lower than in slash-and-burn systems. Plantation agriculture and extensive agriculture often involve more cover or less soil disturbance, while intensive methods may increase soil disturbance but with controlled practices; in the context of upper catchments, the lack of cover from slash-and-burn is the primary erosion driver.

Wular Lake is India's largest freshwater lake by surface area. It is located in Jammu and Kashmir and is primarily fed by the Jhelum River. Powai Lake is a small urban lake in Mumbai, not the largest. Chilka Lake is a saline coastal lagoon in Odisha, not freshwater. Therefore, option B (Wular Lake) is correct.