RAS question
The Krishna River rises near:
Correct answer: (D) Mahabaleshwar.
The Krishna River rises at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.
Explanation
The Krishna is a major peninsular river, about 1400 km long, and India-WRIS places its origin at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. That is why Mahabaleshwar is the right choice, not another hill or pilgrimage centre. India-WRIS Wiki describes the river as flowing through Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh before meeting the Bay of Bengal, and it lists Tungabhadra, Koyna, Bhima and Musi among its tributaries. For RAS, the key is to connect the river with its precise source in the Western Ghats region of Maharashtra and to remember its major tributary set.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Brahmagiri Hills is wrong because India-WRIS identifies the Krishna's origin as Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.
- (B) Trimbakeshwar is wrong because the question asks for the Krishna's source, which is at Mahabaleshwar.
- (C) Amarkantak is wrong because the Krishna's place of origin is Mahabaleshwar, not Amarkantak.
Concept
This tests the Indian drainage-system mapwork concept: matching major peninsular rivers with their source regions and tributaries. It recurs in RAS because source-location questions are a compact way to test physical geography accuracy.