UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — A Himalayan tragedy
Q1. Consider the following descriptions of terms used in the study of Himalayan glacial-lake hazards:
1. Supraglacial lake — a water body that forms on the surface of a debris-covered glacier as small meltwater ponds expand and coalesce.
2. Moraine-dammed lake — the lake type that has accounted for the largest number of recorded glacial lake outburst flood events in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.
3. Ice-dammed lake — a lake impounded behind a ridge of bedrock left exposed by the retreat of a glacier.
4. Permafrost — ground consisting of soil, sediment or rock that has remained frozen continuously for at least two years.
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly described?
- Supraglacial lake — a water body that forms on the surface of a debris-covered glacier as small meltwater ponds expand and coalesce.
- Moraine-dammed lake — the lake type that has accounted for the largest number of recorded glacial lake outburst flood events in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.
- Ice-dammed lake — a lake impounded behind a ridge of bedrock left exposed by the retreat of a glacier.
- Permafrost — ground consisting of soil, sediment or rock that has remained frozen continuously for at least two years.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q2. In the analysis of Himalayan glacial-lake hazards, the term 'moraine' refers to which one of the following?
- A. The terminal ice cliff at a glacier's snout from which blocks calve into the water body lying in front of it
- B. The debris-mantled surface of a glacier tongue on which meltwater ponds form and gradually merge
- C. An accumulation of unconsolidated debris, rock, sand and clay that has been deposited by a moving glacier
- D. A ridge of solid bedrock left exposed by glacier retreat that impounds meltwater in the valley behind it
Q3. With reference to the river system and setting of the area struck by the August 2026 Himalayan flash flood, consider the following:
1. The Lhende Khola, into which the ice-and-rock debris descended, is a tributary of the Bhote Koshi river.
2. The Bhote Koshi of this district feeds into the Trishuli river.
3. The Trishuli unites with the Kali to form the river that is known as the Narayani up to the Indian border.
4. Rasuwa district lies along Nepal's international boundary with the Indian State of Sikkim.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- The Lhende Khola, into which the ice-and-rock debris descended, is a tributary of the Bhote Koshi river.
- The Bhote Koshi of this district feeds into the Trishuli river.
- The Trishuli unites with the Kali to form the river that is known as the Narayani up to the Indian border.
- Rasuwa district lies along Nepal's international boundary with the Indian State of Sikkim.
- A. 1, 2 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 4 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 3 and 4 only
Q4. The highway section running between Betrawati and Rasuwagadhi, damaged at multiple points along its entire length by the August 2026 flood surge, extends over approximately how many kilometres?
- A. About 12 km
- B. About 27 km
- C. About 42 km
- D. About 58 km
Q5. In the assessment of damage from the Bhote Koshi–Trishuli flash flood of August 2026, how many motorable bridges were reported destroyed?
Q6. The magnitude-5.2 signal registered by the United States Geological Survey at the time of the August 2026 Rasuwa disaster is best understood as which one of the following?
- A. A tectonic rupture along the Main Central Thrust which, in turn, dislodged the ice mass from the slope above
- B. An aftershock of the 2015 earthquake, which alone had destabilised every slope in the surrounding catchment
- C. The seismic signature produced by the mass movement of ice and rock itself, rather than by any tectonic event
- D. Ground shaking generated entirely by the sudden collapse of the debris barrier obstructing the Lhende Khola
Q7. Which one of the following is the nodal organisation for flood forecasting and early flood warning in India, whose divisional control rooms at Lucknow and Patna frame the 24-hour forecasts for rivers common to India and Nepal?
- A. The National Disaster Management Authority, functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs
- B. The India Meteorological Department, functioning under the Ministry of Earth Sciences
- C. The National Remote Sensing Centre, functioning under the Department of Space
- D. The Central Water Commission, functioning under the Ministry of Jal Shakti
Q8. Consider the following statements about the bilateral mechanisms between India and Nepal on rivers and flood management:
1. The Joint Committee on Kosi and Gandak Project takes up matters such as waterlogging, supply of water to canals and maintenance of pond level.
2. The Joint Committee on Inundation and Flood Management, by contrast, takes up river training works to be executed on rivers in Nepal and inundation issues along the India-Nepal border.
3. Unlike the hydro-meteorological data exchanged under these mechanisms in the lean season, the data received from Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology during the monsoon are updated once every 24 hours.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Joint Committee on Kosi and Gandak Project takes up matters such as waterlogging, supply of water to canals and maintenance of pond level.
- The Joint Committee on Inundation and Flood Management, by contrast, takes up river training works to be executed on rivers in Nepal and inundation issues along the India-Nepal border.
- Unlike the hydro-meteorological data exchanged under these mechanisms in the lean season, the data received from Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology during the monsoon are updated once every 24 hours.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q9. Consider the following statements regarding the changes made by the Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025 to the framework established by the Disaster Management Act, 2005:
1. It provides that the National Crisis Management Committee shall be the nodal body for major disasters having serious or national ramifications, with the Cabinet Secretary as its Chairperson.
2. It empowers State Governments to constitute Urban Disaster Management Authorities in State capitals and in every city having a Municipal Corporation, without exception.
3. It confers statutory status on the High Level Committee, which approves financial assistance to States from the National Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Mitigation Fund.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- It provides that the National Crisis Management Committee shall be the nodal body for major disasters having serious or national ramifications, with the Cabinet Secretary as its Chairperson.
- It empowers State Governments to constitute Urban Disaster Management Authorities in State capitals and in every city having a Municipal Corporation, without exception.
- It confers statutory status on the High Level Committee, which approves financial assistance to States from the National Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Mitigation Fund.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. Financial assistance to States from the National Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Mitigation Fund is approved by a High Level Committee under the chairmanship of which one of the following?
- A. The Union Minister of Home Affairs
- B. The Prime Minister of India
- C. The Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India
- D. The Union Minister of Finance
Q11. The inventory that mapped and categorised more than 25,000 glacial lakes across five major river basins of the Hindu Kush Himalaya was brought out by which organisation, and in which year?
- A. The United Nations Environment Programme, in 2011
- B. The International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO, in 2022
- C. The South Asia Water Initiative of the World Bank, in 2015
- D. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, in 2018
Q12. The Kosi is known in Nepal as the Saptakoshi. Consider the following:
1. Arun — rises to the north of Mount Everest in Tibet and forms the main stream of the Kosi.
2. Tamur — joins the main stream from the east.
3. Karnali — the westernmost of the constituent streams that merge to form the Saptakoshi.
4. Sun Kosi — joins the main stream from the west.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as constituents of the Saptakoshi?
- Arun — rises to the north of Mount Everest in Tibet and forms the main stream of the Kosi.
- Tamur — joins the main stream from the east.
- Karnali — the westernmost of the constituent streams that merge to form the Saptakoshi.
- Sun Kosi — joins the main stream from the west.
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1, 3 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2 and 4 only