Q. Recently, 12 iconic sites were selected under Swachh Iconic Places by Jal Shakti Ministry. In this context, consider the following sites:

1. Ajanta Caves
2. Sanchi Stupa
3. Kumbhalgarh Fort
4. Golconda Fort

Which of the following is correct geographical order of the above sites from North to South?
Answer: 3 2 1 4
Notes: This kind of the questions can be solved by common sense about the geography of our country. The given sites belong to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana respectively.  Thus, Kumbhalgarh will be northernmost and Golconda will be southernmost. Then, though some parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh share same latitudes, still, you must have seen Bhopal (which is near to Sanchi) relatively upper side than Aurangabad in India's maps. So, the correct order shall be Kumbhalgarh, Sanchi, Ajanta and Golconda. Now, to verify these coordinates sourced from Wikipedia are given below:

• Kumbhalgarh Fort - 25°8′56″N 73°34′49″E
• Sanchi Stupa - 23.479223°N 77.739683°E
• Ajanta Caves - 20°33′12″N 75°42′01″E
• Golconda Fort - 17°22′59″N 78°24′04″E

UPSC would not want you to mug up coordinates but to have common sense about location of various important places. Kindly search for swachh iconic sites, world heritage sites of India and get a good sense about their location in map. Context: Swachh Iconic Places is an initiative of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Mission- Grameen. It aims to take iconic places and their surroundings to higher standards of Swachhata, so that all visitors benefit and also take away home the message of cleanliness. It is a collaborative project with three other central Ministries: Urban Development, Culture, Tourism; all levels in the concerned States and more importantly, Public Sector and Private Companies as partners. In first week of March, the 12 iconic sites are selected under Swachh Iconic Places are as follows:

1. Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
2. Sanchi Stupa, Madhya Pradesh
3. Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan
4. Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan
5. Ramdevra, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
6. Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana
7. Sun Temple, Konark, Odisha
8. Rock Garden, Chandigarh
9. Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir
10. Banke Bihari Temple, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
11. Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh
12. Kalighat Temple, West Bengal

 

This question is part of UPSC Daily 20 MCQ Series Course on GKToday Android app.