Prelims 2026 · Geography · Question 11
Consider the following assertion :<br/><br/>In the Pleistocene period either the Yamuna once flowed into the Indus, or the Sutlej flowed into the Yamuna and one major tributary of either had shifted from the Ganga to the Indus or vice versa.<br/><br/>Which of the following is/are the basis of the above assertion ?<br/>1. The Nadi-Sukta of the Rigveda<br/>2. The explorations of the Sutlej and the Yamuna by Robert Bruce Foote<br/>3. The presence of the same species of dolphins in both the Indus and the Ganga river systems<br/><br/>Select the answer using the code given below :<br/>
Answer
3
Only statement 3 works as a real basis. The occurrence of the same freshwater dolphin lineage in the Indus and Ganga systems is biogeographic evidence of an older fluvial connection or river capture. The Nadi-Sukta is a literary river list, not Pleistocene proof, and Robert Bruce Foote’s name is not the evidentiary basis of this specific assertion.