Which hill station of Maharashtra does not permit motor vehicles and is reached by a narrow gauge hill railway?

The correct answer is B, Himachal Pradesh. The Rohtang Pass lies on the Pir Panjal range in Himachal Pradesh and connects the Kullu valley with the Lahaul and Spiti district. Because the pass is closed by snow for several months each year, the Atal Tunnel, about nine kilometres long, was built beneath it and opened in October 2020 to keep Lahaul connected through the winter on the Manali to Leh route. Option A is wrong because the important passes of Uttarakhand are Mana, Niti and Lipulekh, all routes towards Tibet. Option C is wrong because Sikkim has Nathu La and Jelep La, which cross into the Chumbi valley. Option D is wrong because Arunachal Pradesh has Se La, Bomdi La, Diphu and Pangsau passes. A useful memory hook is that Rohtang and Banihal both cross the Pir Panjal and both now have tunnels under them.

The correct answer is B, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Palakkad Gap, also called the Palghat Gap, is about thirty kilometres wide and lies between the Nilgiris to its north and the Anaimalai hills to its south. It carries the main rail and road links between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala, and it also lets the south-west monsoon and strong summer winds blow inland, which is why the Coimbatore side lies in a rain shadow and supports large wind farms. Option A is wrong because the Karnataka and Goa border crossing of the Ghats is served by passes such as the Anmod and Chorla ghats, not the Palakkad Gap. Option C is wrong because the Maharashtra and Karnataka section of the Ghats has no gap of this size. Option D is wrong because the Kerala and Karnataka link runs through the Wayanad or Thamarassery ghat section.

The correct answer is A, Sikkim. Nathu La lies on the Sikkim border and crosses into the Chumbi valley of Tibet; it was an important wool and trade route, was closed after the 1962 conflict and was reopened for border trade in 2006. Jelep La, also in Sikkim, is the second route into the same Chumbi valley. Option B is wrong because Himachal Pradesh has Rohtang, Baralacha La, Kunzum La and Shipki La, the last being its designated border trade point. Option C is wrong because Uttarakhand has Mana, Niti and Lipulekh, the last being the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route. Option D is wrong because Arunachal Pradesh has Se La and Bomdi La on the Tawang route and Diphu Pass at the India, China and Myanmar tri-junction. Remembering that both Sikkim passes end in La and lead to the Chumbi valley makes this pair easy.

The correct answer is B, the Banihal Pass. The Banihal Pass crosses the Pir Panjal range and is the historic gateway from Jammu into the Kashmir valley. Because the pass closes with snow, the Jawahar Tunnel was driven beneath it and opened in 1956, giving Jammu an all-weather road link with Srinagar. Option A is wrong because Zoji La lies on the far side of the valley and carries the road from Srinagar towards Dras, Kargil and Leh; a separate tunnel project is being built there. Option C is wrong because the Pir Panjal Pass is the name of the old saddle on the Mughal road and does not carry the Jawahar Tunnel. Option D is wrong because the Burzil Pass is the old route from the Kashmir valley towards Gilgit and lies well to the north. In short, Banihal for the Jawahar Tunnel and Rohtang for the Atal Tunnel.

The correct answer is B, Mount Abu. Mount Abu is the only hill station of Rajasthan and stands on an isolated block of the Aravalli range in the Sirohi district; Guru Shikhar, at about 1,722 metres, is the highest peak of the Aravalli and lies here, and the Dilwara Jain temples are nearby. Option A is wrong because Pachmarhi is in Madhya Pradesh, in the Satpura range, and is called the Queen of the Satpura, with Dhupgarh as the highest point of the range. Option C is wrong because Saputara is the only hill station of Gujarat, in the Dang district on the Sahyadri. Option D is wrong because Netarhat is in Jharkhand on the Chota Nagpur plateau and is called the Queen of Chota Nagpur. All four are peninsular hill stations, which is exactly why they are grouped as distractors.