RAS question
The Narmada River flows into which sea/ocean?
Correct answer: (D) Arabian Sea.
The Narmada River flows westward and empties into the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat.
Explanation
The Narmada is a major west-flowing river of India. The Central Water Commission's Narmada Basin Organisation describes it as the largest west-flowing river and says it flows between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges before falling into the Gulf of Cambay in the Arabian Sea. That directly fixes the outlet: although many large peninsular rivers drain eastwards, the Narmada is an exception, along with the Tapi/Tapti, because it flows west and reaches the Arabian Sea side of India. In the MCQ, the sea asked for is therefore the Arabian Sea, with the Gulf of Khambhat/Cambay as the immediate gulf at the mouth.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Bay of Bengal is wrong because the Narmada is a west-flowing river, while the Bay of Bengal is on India's eastern side.
- (B) Indian Ocean is too broad and not the named outlet in the explanation or the CWC basin note; the Narmada falls into the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Khambhat/Cambay.
- (C) Palk Strait is wrong because it lies between India and Sri Lanka, not at the western outlet of the Narmada in Gujarat.
Concept
This tests Indian drainage, especially the contrast between east-flowing and west-flowing peninsular rivers. RAS often asks such river-outlet facts because they link physical geography with map-based location memory.