Which of the following Ramsar sites is not situated in Uttar Pradesh?

The correct answer is A, 1 only. The Harike Wetland in Punjab was created by building a barrage just below the point where the Beas joins the Sutlej, so the first pair is correct and it is the only one. Option B is wrong because it accepts the second pair, and Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur is a man-made wetland fed by the Gambhir and Banganga through the Ajan Bandh, not a site at the meeting of the Banas and the Chambal. Option C is wrong because it accepts the third pair, and Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh lies between the deltas of the Krishna and the Godavari, drained by the Upputeru, and not at any confluence of the Musi with the Krishna. Option D is wrong because it accepts both of those mismatched pairs. In matching questions of this kind, one certain pair is often enough to reach the answer by elimination.

The correct answer is A, Iran. The convention takes its name from Ramsar, a town on the Caspian coast of Iran, where it was signed on 2 February 1971; it came into force in 1975 and is the oldest of the modern global environmental treaties. Option B is wrong because Iraq, though a neighbour of Iran, has no connection with the signing. Option C is wrong for a reason worth noting: Switzerland hosts the secretariat of the convention at Gland, so it is the administrative home of the treaty, but not the place of signature, and this is exactly the confusion the option is placed to create. Option D is wrong because Kenya is the seat of the United Nations Environment Programme at Nairobi, another agency easily mixed up with wetland administration. Remember the pair: signed at Ramsar in Iran, administered from Gland in Switzerland.

The correct answer is B, 2 February, the anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention in 1971, which is why the day carries that date. Option A is wrong because 22 March is World Water Day, about fresh water in general rather than wetlands, and it is the commonest wrong choice here. Option C is wrong because 5 June is World Environment Day, observed to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference of 1972. Option D is wrong because 26 July is the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, which is about one wetland type only and is itself a favourite examination fact. Keeping these four dates apart is the whole point of the question, so learn them as a set: 2 February wetlands, 22 March water, 5 June environment, 26 July mangroves.

The correct answer is C, Loktak Lake, the large freshwater lake of Manipur whose surface carries floating mats of soil and vegetation called phumdis. Keibul Lamjao National Park rests on these mats and is the last natural home of the sangai, the brow-antlered deer of Manipur. Option A is wrong because Wular Lake in the Jhelum valley is the largest freshwater lake in the country but has no floating park. Option B is wrong because Chilika in Odisha is a brackish lagoon famous for Irrawaddy dolphins and the Nalabana bird sanctuary, not for phumdis. Option D is wrong because Kolleru Lake in Andhra Pradesh, between the Krishna and the Godavari deltas, is a shallow freshwater lake known for pelicans. Link the three words together in revision: Loktak, phumdi, sangai, all in Manipur, and remember that Loktak is on the Montreux Record.

The correct answer is B, the Sundarbans, which spreads over the delta of the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna and is shared between India and Bangladesh. It is named after the sundari tree, holds the only mangrove population of the Royal Bengal tiger, and the Indian portion is a national park, a biosphere reserve and a World Heritage Site. Option A is wrong because Bhitarkanika in Odisha, though the next largest mangrove tract in India and famous for the saltwater crocodile, is much smaller. Option C is wrong because Pichavaram in Tamil Nadu is a compact mangrove of about a thousand hectares, visited for its boat channels. Option D is wrong because Coringa lies in the Godavari delta of Andhra Pradesh and is a sanctuary of modest size. Note also that among Indian states West Bengal has the largest mangrove cover, followed by Gujarat.