RAS question
Which is the only freshwater lake among the following?
Correct answer: (A) Pushkar.
Pushkar is the only freshwater lake among Pushkar, Didwana, Sambhar and Pachpadra.
Explanation
Pushkar is the freshwater exception in this option set. The Rajasthan groundwater assessment supports the elimination method used here: in its description of the desert area, it lists prominent salt lakes and depressions including Sambhar Lake, Didwana Lake and Pachpadra. Since those three options are salt-water bodies, they cannot be the freshwater lake asked for in the question. Pushkar is therefore the only remaining and correct choice. For RAS, this is a standard Rajasthan physical geography recall item: the trap is to recognise that famous Rajasthan lakes are not all of the same water type.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Didwana is wrong because the official groundwater assessment lists Didwana Lake among the prominent salt lakes and depressions of Rajasthan's desert area.
- (C) Sambhar is wrong because the same assessment identifies Sambhar Lake as one of the prominent salt lakes, not a freshwater lake.
- (D) Pachpadra is wrong because it is included with Rajasthan's prominent salt lakes and depressions, so it does not fit the freshwater requirement.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan physical geography, especially the classification of major lakes as freshwater or salt-water bodies. It recurs in RAS because lake names are high-yield map-based facts and are often tested through close distractors.