RAS question
Unlike the continuous Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats are discontinuous. At which location do the Western and Eastern Ghats meet?
Correct answer: (A) Nilgiri Hills.
The Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri Hills, near the tri-junction region of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Explanation
The Nilgiri Hills are the meeting point of the two peninsular hill systems. This convergence lies in the border region of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, and the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board notes that the Eastern Ghats enter Tamil Nadu from Andhra Pradesh and meet the Nilgiri hills. The meeting point is therefore not a hill range farther east or south, but the Nilgiris themselves. The Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board also identifies Doddabetta in the Nilgiris as rising to 2,637 m, the highest point of the Nilgiris.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Palni Hills are a separate offshoot of the Anamalais, not the point where the Eastern Ghats meet the Western Ghats.
- (C) Javadi Hills are among other prominent hill groups of Tamil Nadu, while the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board specifically says the Eastern Ghats meet the Nilgiri hills.
- (D) Shevaroy Hills are a separate hill group, while the Eastern Ghats converge with the Western Ghats at the Nilgiri hills.
Concept
Peninsular Indian physiography includes the relationship between the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and the Nilgiris. RAS often uses map-based location facts to decide straightforward physical-geography problems.