Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Kota, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Alwar.

Key Points

• Rajasthan’s literacy rate is 66.11 % as per Census 2011.
• The male literacy rate was 79.19 % however the female literacy was 52.12 %.
• The rural literacy rate of Rajasthan was 61.44%.
• The total number of rural Literates was 26,471,786.
  • Out of which the females were 9,567,197 and males were 16,904,589.
• The literacy rate of rural males was 76.16 %.
• The literacy rate of rural females was 45.8 %.
• Cities of Rajasthan having a High Literacy rate as per Census 2011
  • 1. Kota 76.6 %
  • 2. Jaipur 75.5 %
  • 3. Jhunjhunun 74.1 %
  • 4. Sikar 71.9 %
  • 5. Alwar 70.7 %

Additional Information 

• Cities of Rajasthan having the lowest Literacy rate as per Census 2011:
  • 1. Jalor 54.9%
  • 2. Sirohi 55.3%
  • 3. Pratapgarh 56.0%
  • 4. Banswara 56.3%
  • 5. Barmer 56.5%

The correct answer is 1 only.

• As per Forest Survey of India, State of Forest report 2019,
  • Rajasthan has reported the extent of recorded forest area (RFA) 32,737 sq km which is 9.57% of its geographical area. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • The reserved, protected and unclassed forests are 38.11%, 55.64% and 6.25% of the recorded forest area in the State respectively. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Key Points

• Reserved Forest:
  • These forests are under the direct supervision of the government.
  • No public entry is allowed for collection of timber or grazing of cattle.
• Protected Forest:
  • These forests are looked after by the government, but the local people are allowed to collect fuel-wood/timber and graze their cattle without causing serious damage to the forests.
• Unclassified Forest:
  • The unclassified forests are those in which there is no restriction on the cutting of trees and grazing of cattle.

The correct answer is Kota.

• Salar forests are not found in the Kota district.

Key Points

• Salar forest in Rajasthan
  • These forests are found in mountainous areas with a height of more than 450 meters.
  •  In Rajasthan, these forests are found in the districts of Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Sirohi, Pali, Ajmer, Jaipur, Alwar, Sikar. 
  • The major trees of these forests are Salar, Dhok, Kathira, and Dhavad.
  • Salar tree is a good source of gum. Its wood is used to make packing cans. 
  • Due to the abundance of salar trees, these forests have been named salar forests.

Additional Information

• The forests of Rajasthan can be divided into 5 broad forest types.
  • Tropical Thorn Forests
    • Tropical thorn forests are found in arid and semi-arid regions of western Rajasthan, namely Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore, Barmer, Nagaur, Churu, Bikaner, etc.
  • Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
    • ​Sporadic growth of certain species of dry deciduous forests is found along the dry river beds of Jalore, Nagaur, Ganganagar, and Bikaner, districts.
    • The main species found in this kind of forests are Babul
  • Bamboo-Forests
    • ​Found in Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Kota & Abu.
  • Central India Sub-tropical hill forests
    • ​These forests have semi-evergreen and some evergreen species of trees.
    • Found in Sirohi.
  • Mixed Miscellaneous Forests
    • ​These forests are mostly found in the south-eastern and eastern part of Rajasthan.

Explanation:

Patod:

• On the outskirts of the pink city of Jaipur, one often comes across these stone slab houses.
• These homes known as Patod are entirely made using slabs of the pink sandstone known as Jodpuri patti.
• The basic framework remains the same throughout, the infill to cover this frame can be made using any natural building technique suitable to the region.
• These natural buildings could be an excellent solution for disaster management and emergency housing due to their ease and speed of construction.
• These are also cost-effective.
• These unique sensibilities in design and construction can only be found in the deepest hearts of our villages.

Thus, Patod houses found in Rajasthan are made up of pink sandstone.

Construction:

• The stone slabs to be used are cut and shaped beforehand and brought to the site to be assembled.
• The columns go 2’ below the ground and are erected perfectly vertical and packed well in the ground.
• The grooves on the top of the column are meant to accommodate the rafters.
• The stone slabs for the roofing are laid on top of the rafters overlapping each other.
•  These are also adjusted by placing a few small stones between the gaps of the rafters and the roofing slabs to give a better hold.
• These roofs, being monolith stone slabs do not require a steep 45° slope saving on the usage of more materials.
• There may be a few small gaps in between these roofing slabs.
• To prevent leakages, the joints between the two slabs are sealed with lime ‘bagra’.
• Sometimes these slabs are covered with a thatch of kuncha reeds (saccharum munja) 

The correct answer is Mahi.

Key Points

• Tropic of cancer in Rajasthan-
  • The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead.

• Tropic of Cancer passes through 8 Indian states:
  • Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram.
• Mahi:-
  • It is a river in western India. It rises in Madhya Pradesh and, after flowing through the Vagad region of Rajasthan, enters Gujarat and flows into the Arabian Sea.
  • It flows north through the district (Banswara) from its origin in the Vindhya Range of Madhya Pradesh, entering the district (Banswara) from the southeast and flowing north towards the northern end of the district, where it turns southwest to form the boundary between Banswara and Dungarpur districts before entering Gujarat and emptying into the Gulf of Cambay.

  • It is the only river in Rajasthan that passes the Tropic of Cancer twice.

Additional Information         

• Luni-
  • It is the largest river in the Thar desert in north-west India.
  • It originates in the Pushkar valley of the Aravalli Range, near Ajmer, passes through the southeastern portion of the Thar Desert, and ends in the marshy lands of Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
• Ghaghar-
  • The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season.
• Kali Sindh-
  • The Kali Sindh is a river in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in northern India. It is a tributary of the Chambal River in the Ganges Basin.