Mains answer practice — GS 1 : Questions on hydropower development on Yarlung Tsangpo and Monsoon in Indian tradition (Week 112)

Indian Express

25-07-2025

UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today's answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-1 to check your progress.
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Discuss the geomorphological features of the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin. Why is it significant in the context of global hydropower development?
Discuss the significance of the monsoon season in classical Indian art traditions.
Introduction
— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.
— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.
Body
— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.
— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.
— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.
— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.
— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.
Way forward/ conclusion
— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.
— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.
Self Evaluation
— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.
QUESTION 1: Discuss the geomorphological features of the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin. Why is it significant in the context of global hydropower development?
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— The Yarlung Tsangpo is the largest river on the Tibetan plateau, originating from a glacier near Mount Kailash. 'Tsangpo' means river in Tibetan. According to academic Costanza Rampini in the Political Economy of Hydropower in Southwest China and Beyond (2021), the basin spreads over more than 500,000 sq km of land in China, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, 'though 80% of it lies in China and India.' It runs 2,057 km in Tibet before flowing into India. One fascinating feature of the river is the sharp 'U' turn that it takes, known as the Great Bend, at the proximity of Mount Namcha Barwa near the Indian border.
— In India, the Yarlung Tsangpo enters Arunachal Pradesh as Siang. The Siang then gathers more streams and flows down towards Assam where it is joined by the Lohit and Dibang rivers. Further downstream, it is known as the Brahmaputra, which in turn flows through Assam before entering Bangladesh.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:
— China has constructed several dams along tributaries of the Yarlung Tsangpo, such as the Pangduo and Zhikong dams on the Lhasa River. In 2014, it completed the Zangmu Dam along the main stem of the Yarlung Tsangpo. The Indian government, too, has expedited the clearance of big dams along the YTB and its tributaries.
— The river crosses one of the disputed boundaries between India and China — the McMahon Line, which separates the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet. The McMahon Line was negotiated in 1914 by representatives of the new Republic of China, the Tibetan government, and the British government.
— As the YTB descends from the Himalayan mountains to the plains of Assam, it crosses steep slopes and gathers strong energy, which gets scattered in the form of intense summer floods, especially in India and Bangladesh. 'The energy that the YTB gains throughout its course also puts the river at the centre of China's and India's recent renewable energy development strategies,' says Rampini. For long, both countries have been mobilising their engineering capacities to dam their respective stretches of the river and harness optimal hydropower.
— India and the international community continue to recognise it as the legal border between North-east India and the current-day Tibet Autonomous Region of China. However, since gaining control over Tibet in the mid-20th century, China has contested the border, arguing that Tibet was not an independent state at the time of the treaty, making it invalid.
Conclusion:
— The Brahmaputra, or Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, is counted among the world's ten major rivers; there is also no major international water treaty governing the YTB. Bangladesh, as the lowest riparian country in the basin, feels the most threatened, experts say.
— The melting of Himalayan snow and ice has a significant impact on the YTB's flows and flood intensity. As human activities raise surface temperatures, the Himalayas may experience glacier mass losses ranging from 15% to 78% by 2100. As glaciers disappear, glacier-fed rivers like the YTB will see an increase in runoff as more glacial melt fills their flows.
— The YTB river system connects the destiny of China, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Scholars fear that unregulated dam-building initiatives along the Yarlung Tsangpo, as well as the current mega project, could result in a 'water war' between the nations.
(Source: As Beijing prepares to build world's biggest hydropower dam, a look at the Yarlung Tsangpo River)
Points to Ponder
Read more about Brahmaputra River and its course of flow
Read about hydropower electricity generation
Related Previous Year Questions
The interlinking of rivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problems of droughts, floods, and interrupted navigation. Critically examine. (2020)
How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far-reaching impact on the water resources of India? (2020)
QUESTION 2: Discuss the significance of the monsoon season in classical Indian art traditions.
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— The rain element has always been dominant in Indian cultural works. It has inspired poets and artists alike, as well as Vedic hymns sung to appease the rain gods and bring in timely rains.
— At first glance, depictions of monsoons in South Asian art appear to be dominated by a certain collection of motifs and symbolic structures—passionate lovers in the rain, young women braving clouds and lightning to meet their loved one, peacocks, lush foliage, and joyful animals.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:
— In their book, Monsoon Feelings: A History of Emotions in Rain (2018), historians Imke Rajamani, Margrit Pernau, and Katherine Butler Schofield write that although these recurring themes and symbols in Indian art would lead one to assume that the monsoons elicited the same kind of emotions across time and region, that, in fact, was not true. 'Monsoon feelings have a history, which encompasses both continuity and change,' they write. They also point to the rise and decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which they write is attributed to changing patterns of monsoons.
— Take, for instance, the kingdom of Bikaner, which has historically been one of the driest states of India. However, as noted by art historian Molly Emma Aitken in her article, 'Dark, Overwhelming, yet Joyful: The Monsoon in Rajput Painting', 'the ceilings and walls of its Junagadh Fort burst with monsoon clouds and driving lines of rain, with white cranes flying across wall panels of monsoon black.' Here, monsoon was celebrated for being auspicious and bearing the promise of fertility.
— An example is a 16th century folio from the Harivamsa showing Lord Krishna holding up Mount Govardhan to shelter the villagers of Braj.
— Abhisarika Nayika, one of ancient Indian aesthetics' eight sorts of heroines, is a popular figure in monsoon art. In art, Abhisarika Nayika is portrayed as a bold woman walking into the stormy night to see her beloved. She is depicted as a pale person in a dark, wet, demon-infested night, unaware of the impediments in her path, including vipers entwined around her legs. The rain and lightning in these paintings represent a hurdle to love, as well as the heroine's bravery and devotion.
— The classical Sanskrit poem, Meghaduta, by Kalidasa has lent itself as a theme to artists painting the monsoon. The poem tells the story of a yaksha who longs for his wife and uses a cloud as a messenger. In Kalidasa's poetic description, the beauty of the Himalayan landscape comes to life in the rainy season, with rivers flowing gracefully and elephants playing in the forests.
— The monsoons continued to have a significantly more pervasive presence in 17th-century paintings of musical modes known as Ragamala paintings. This type of painting, which started in 17th-century Rajasthan, depicts variants of Indian musical modes or ragas. As a result, in these paintings, each raga is represented by a hue and a mood, as well as the season of the year or time of day when the raga is supposed to be sung.
(Source: Painting the rain: How Indian art obsesses with the monsoons)
Points to Ponder
Read more about Indian Paintings
Read more about Monsoon
Related Previous Year Questions
Why is the South-West Monsoon called 'Purvaiya' (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the cultured ethos of the region? (2023)
What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia? (2017)
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