Consider the following assertion: In the Pleistocene period either the Yamuna once flowed into the Indus, or the Sutlej flowed into the Yamuna and one major tributary of either had shifted from the Ganga to the Indus or vice versa.
Which of the following is/are the basis of the above assertion?
- The Nadi-Sukta of the Rigveda
- The explorations of the Sutlej and the Yamuna by Robert Bruce Foote
- The presence of the same species of dolphins in both the Indus and the Ganga river systems
Select the answer using the code given below:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- 1 and 2
- 3 only
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect
- The Rigveda mentions rivers during the Vedic period, but it does not provide scientific evidence for Pleistocene shifts in river courses between the Indus and Ganga systems.
Statement 2 is incorrect
- Robert Bruce Foote was a geologist known for prehistoric archaeology (Stone Age tools in India). He was not associated with explorations of the Sutlej and the Yamuna.
Statement 3 is correct
- This is the strongest scientific basis. River dolphins are freshwater species; their presence in both the Indus and Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems suggests that these drainage systems may have been connected in the past through river capture or stream diversion. The National Mission for Clean Ganga document notes that there was likely sporadic faunal exchange between the Indus and Ganges river dolphin populations via headstream capture between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. It also links this to the recognition of Platanista dolphins in the two river systems.
