RAS question
The Meghalaya Plateau (Shillong Plateau) is separated from the main Peninsular Plateau by:
Correct answer: (C) The Garo-Rajmahal Gap (Malda Gap).
The Meghalaya Plateau, also called the Shillong Plateau, is separated from the main Peninsular Plateau by the Garo-Rajmahal Gap, also known as the Malda Gap.
Explanation
The Meghalaya Plateau is a detached block of the Peninsular Plateau, separated from it by the Garo-Rajmahal Gap, or Malda Gap, through which the Ganges flows. This is why it is treated as structurally linked to the peninsula despite its isolated position in the north-east. It is made of the same Archaean rocks and includes the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills, with coal and limestone deposits. The Cambridge Core chapter describes the Shillong-Mikir Precambrian massif, including the Meghalaya plateau, as the north-eastern continuation of the Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex across the Bengal Basin, and places the Bengal Basin, specifically the Rajmahal-Garo Hills gap, between the Indian Peninsular shield and the North-Eastern region.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Brahmaputra River lies north of the Meghalaya Plateau, so it is not the gap separating the plateau from the main Peninsular Plateau.
- (B) The Narmada Valley is in central India and belongs to a different physiographic setting, not the north-eastern break between Meghalaya and the peninsula.
- (D) The Ganges Delta is further south; the relevant separating feature is the Garo-Rajmahal or Malda Gap through which the Ganges flows.
Concept
The Meghalaya Plateau is the detached north-eastern extension of the Peninsular Plateau, and the Garo-Rajmahal Gap explains its separation from the main block. RAS Indian physiography questions often hinge on reading plateau extensions, river passages and geological continuity together.