UPSC Prelims 2017 Question:

If you want to see gharials in their natural habitat, which one of the following is the best place to visit?

Explanation: 

• Gharial prefers deep fast flowing rivers, however adult gharial have also been observed in still water branches (jheel) of rivers and in comparatively velocity-free aquatic environments of deep holes (kunds) at river bends and confluences.
  
  
• Historically, gharial were found in the river system of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and southern part of Bhutan and Nepal. Today they survive only in the waters of India and Nepal.
  
  
• The surviving population can be found within the tributaries of the Ganges river system:
  • Girwa (Uttar Pradesh)
  • Son (Madhya Pradesh)
  • Ramganga (Uttarakhand)
  • Gandak (Bihar)
  • Chambal (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan)
  • Mahanadi (Orissa)
    
    

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: Environment | Biodiversity and Conservation