The national highway historically linking Mumbai with Agra passes through which of the following pairs of important cities on its route?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: Nasik and Gwalior

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
National highways form the backbone of road transport in India and are an important topic in Indian economic and transport geography. The historic Mumbai Agra road, earlier designated as a major national highway, connects the western coastal metropolis of Mumbai with the northern city of Agra. This question tests whether you know the intermediate cities that lie along this corridor. Such knowledge is useful for understanding transport links, trade routes, and regional connectivity across central India.


Given Data / Assumptions:

    The question focuses on the roadway that links Mumbai and Agra.
    Four pairs of cities are given as options, out of which only one pair lies along the Mumbai–Agra highway alignment.
    The answer requires knowledge of transport routes rather than just state boundaries.
    The route considered is the traditional national highway alignment connecting these two cities.


Concept / Approach:
To solve this, you should recall the approximate path of the Mumbai–Agra highway across India. The road starts from Mumbai on the Arabian Sea coast, moves north east through Maharashtra, passes via Nasik and then enters Madhya Pradesh near Indore and Gwalior before reaching Agra in Uttar Pradesh. By mentally tracing this route or recalling standard textbook descriptions (often referring to it as the Agra–Bombay road), you can match the listed city pairs with the actual highway alignment and choose the correct pair.


Step-by-Step Solution:

Step 1: Recall the general direction of the Mumbai–Agra highway: it runs from the south west coast inland towards central and northern India. Step 2: From Mumbai, the highway moves north east through Maharashtra, with Nasik as a significant city on the route. Step 3: The road then continues through central India, passing through parts of Madhya Pradesh including cities like Indore and Gwalior before reaching Agra. Step 4: Examine option A: Nasik and Gwalior. Both of these cities are known to lie on or very close to the traditional Agra–Bombay highway corridor. Step 5: Examine option B: Pune and Bhopal. Pune lies south of Mumbai on a different route, while Bhopal is further east and not on the direct Mumbai–Agra alignment. Step 6: Examine option C: Vadodara and Jhansi. Vadodara lies on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad axis, and Jhansi lies on another north south route; they are not both on the same Mumbai–Agra highway. Step 7: Examine option D: Jaipur and Kanpur. These cities lie further north and east respectively, on routes linking Delhi, Rajasthan and eastern Uttar Pradesh, rather than on the Mumbai–Agra road. Step 8: Therefore only option A correctly identifies a pair of cities on the Mumbai–Agra highway.


Verification / Alternative check:
A simple way to verify is to look at a standard map of India in any school atlas showing national highways. You will see one major highway linking Mumbai to Agra via Nasik, Indore and Gwalior. Another cross check is to recall that Pune is on the route from Mumbai towards Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and Jaipur and Kanpur form part of different northern corridors, not the Agra–Mumbai one. This confirms that Nasik and Gwalior are correctly associated with the Mumbai–Agra transport corridor.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

Pune and Bhopal: Pune is connected to Mumbai via a separate expressway and not on the route towards Agra, while Bhopal lies further east and is not on the direct Agra–Mumbai link. Vadodara and Jhansi: Vadodara lies on the western coastal corridor towards Ahmedabad, and Jhansi lies on routes linking central India with Uttar Pradesh; they do not form a pair on the Mumbai–Agra road. Jaipur and Kanpur: These cities are parts of different northern highway networks and are not on the main Mumbai–Agra route.


Common Pitfalls:
Many students confuse major city names without relating them to actual routes. Some might choose Pune because it is close to Mumbai or Jaipur because it is a famous city in the north, without checking whether these places really lie on the same highway. To avoid such errors, regularly practise tracing national highways on a map and associating them with key nodal cities. This strengthens your spatial understanding and helps in answering transport geography questions correctly.


Final Answer:
The correct answer is Nasik and Gwalior, because the traditional national highway linking Mumbai with Agra passes through these two important cities.

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