💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (August Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Type: National Parks/WS

  • Places in news: Erra Matti Dibbalu

    Citizens join hands to preserve the geological marvel of Erra Matti Dibbalu in Visakhapatnam.

    What is Erra Matti Dibbalu?

    • Located between Visakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam, the Erra Matti Dibbalu are rare red sand dunes that are a reminder of the million years of geological processes.
    • Its towering red sand dunes with patches of greenery is like a meandering maze.
    • The width of the dunes, which runs for five kilometres along the coast, varies from 200 metres to two kilometres.
    • It is listed among the 34 notified National Geological Heritage Monument Sites of India by the Geological Survey of India.

    (Don’t they resemble to Ravines of Chambal?)

    Its formation

    • Studies indicate that the area was tectonically active between 2.5 million years and 11,000 years ago.
    • The sediments are mainly derived from the Khondalite rocks from the hinterland of the Eastern Ghats.
    • Geologically these red sand dune sediments particularly hold significance.
    • They are the result of the combined effect of numerous factors including global climatic changes, sea-level variations, monsoonal variability and as a result serves as valuable paleo-environment indicators.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Places in news: Basai Wetlands

    The Basai Wetlands in Gurugram has shrunk to a quarter of its original size over the years.

    Basai Wetlands

    • Basai wetland, located in Basai village in Gurgaon Haryana is a flora and fauna rich water body.
    • It lies in one of the paleochannel of the Sahibi River, a tributary of Yamuna which originates from the Aravalli range in Rajasthan and flows through the region.

    Its significance

    • It is recognized as one of India’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is of global conservation significance.
    • It supports populations of several endangered, vulnerable, and threatened bird species.
    • It is recognized globally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the BirdLife International housing 20,000 birds of over 280 species including migratory birds and endangered birds.
    • However, it has not yet been declared a protected wetland by the Government of Haryana.

    Threats

    • Given the accelerated expansion of the city of the future, the wetland continues to disappear under newly laid roads, modern housing constructions and other infrastructure development.
    • An upcoming expressway, cutting through the terrain here, has majorly impacted the flyway of thousands of migratory birds from Europe and Central Asia.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Places in news: Sultanpur National Park

    Homestays would soon be allowed in the villages around Sultanpur National Park in Gurugram to promote tourism and provide an opportunity for the visitors to catch a glimpse of rural life in Haryana.

    Sultanpur National Park

    • Sultanpur NP is located at Sultanpur village on Gurugram-Jhajjar highway, 15 km from Gurugram, Haryana and 50 km from Delhi.
    • It was a bird sanctuary, ideal for birding and bird lookers. Its area covers approximately 142.52 hectares.
    • Migratory birds start arriving in the park in September. Birds use the park as a resting place till the following March-April.
    • During summer and monsoon months the park is inhabited by many local bird species.
    • In April 1971, the Sultanpur Jheel inside the park (an area of 1.21 sq. km.) was accorded Sanctuary status under section 8 of the Punjab Wildlife Preservation Act of 1959.
    • The status of the park was upgraded to National Park under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 in July 1991.

    Why must we remember it?

    • It is one of the few NPs in the small state of Haryana.
    • Another NP in Haryana is Kalesar National Park.

    Important Fauna at the Park

    • Mammals: Blackbuck, Nilgai, Hog deer, Sambar, Leopard etc.
    • Birds: Siberian Cranes, Greater Flamingo, Demoiselle Crane etc.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • [pib] Sela Pass Tunnel Project

    The final blast for the 980-metre long Sela Tunnel was recently conducted by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) amidst inclement weather and heavy snowfall.

    Sela Pass Tunnel Project

    • The tunnel covers a total distance of 12.04 kms which consist of two tunnels of 1790 metres and 475 meters.
    • It is being built at an estimated cost of ₹687 crores by the Border Roads Organisation.
    • It aims to provide all weather connectivity to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh — an area claimed entirely by China — and other forward areas.
    • Once built it will cut travel time to Tawang by at least an hour for Indian troops stationed in adjoining Assam’s Tezpur town — the headquarters of the Indian army’s IV Corps.

    Strategic Importance

    • The lack of motorable roads and rail connections in India’s northeast and Arunachal Pradesh in particular were seen as distinct disadvantages for India vis a vis China in the region.
    • Analysts had been warning of China building infrastructure including access roads right up to the Indian border that would give it a strategic advantage in any conflict with India.
    • Once completed this would result in all weather connectivity to Tawang and forward areas and reduction in more than one hour of travelling time from Tezpur to Tawang.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Undersea Volcanic Eruption in Hunga Islands, Tonga

    A distant undersea volcano has erupted in spectacular fashion near the Pacific nation of Tonga sending large tsunami waves reaching the shore.

    Hunga Volcano

    • The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades.
    • It consists of two small uninhabited islands, Hunga-Ha’apai and Hunga-Tonga, poking about 100m above sea level 65km north of Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa.
    • But hiding below the waves is a massive volcano, around 1800m high and 20 kilometres wide.
    • During events in 2009 and 2014/15 hot jets of magma and steam exploded through the waves. But these eruptions were small, dwarfed in scale by the January 2022 events.
    • Researchers suggest this is one of the massive explosions the volcano is capable of producing roughly every thousand years.

    Impact of the eruption

    • The ash plume is already about 20km high.
    • Most remarkably, it spread out almost concentrically over a distance of about 130km from the volcano, creating a plume with a 260km diameter, before it was distorted by the wind.
    • The eruption also produced a tsunami throughout Tonga and neighbouring Fiji and Samoa.
    • Shock waves traversed many thousands of kilometres, were seen from space, and recorded in New Zealand some 2000km away.
    • All these signs suggest the large Hunga caldera has awoken.

    Why is it so explosive even after being underwater?

    Answer: Fuel-coolant interaction

    • If magma rises into sea water slowly, even at temperatures of about 1200 degrees Celsius, a thin film of steam forms between the magma and water.
    • This provides a layer of insulation to allow the outer surface of the magma to cool.
    • But this process doesn’t work when magma is blasted out of the ground full of volcanic gas.
    • When magma enters the water rapidly, any steam layers are quickly disrupted, bringing hot magma in direct contact with cold water.
    • Volcano researchers call this ‘fuel-coolant interaction’ and it is akin to weapons-grade chemical explosions.

    A chain reaction

    • Extremely violent blasts tear the magma apart.
    • A chain reaction begins, with new magma fragments exposing fresh hot interior surfaces to water, and the explosions repeat, ultimately jetting out volcanic particles and causing blasts with supersonic speeds.

    How has it emerged out to be so big?

    • The caldera is a crater-like depression around 5km across.
    • Small eruptions (such as in 2009 and 2014/15) occur mainly at the edge of the caldera, but very big ones come from the caldera itself.
    • These big eruptions are so large the top of the erupting magma collapses inward, deepening the caldera.
    • Looking at the chemistry of past eruptions, we now think the small eruptions represent the magma system slowly recharging itself to prepare for a big event.

    What next?

    • This latest eruption has stepped up the scale in terms of violence.
    • Researchers are still in the middle of this major eruptive sequence and many aspects remain unclear, partly because the island is currently obscured by ash clouds.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Places in news: Darvaza Gas Crater

    Turkmenistan President has ordered experts to find a way to extinguish a fire in a huge natural gas crater, the Darvaza gas crater also known as the ‘Gateway to Hell’.

    Darvaza Gas Crater

    • Located in the Karakum desert, 260 kilometres away from Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, the crater has been burning for the last 50 years.
    • The crater is 69 metres wide and 30 metres deep.
    • While the details of the origin of the crater are contested but it has been said that the crater was created in 1971 during a Soviet drilling operation.
    • In 1971, Soviet geologists were drilling for oil in the Karakum desert when they hit a pocket of natural gas by mistake, which caused the earth to collapse and ended up forming three huge sinkholes.

    Why is it flamed?

    • This pocket of natural gas contained methane, hence to stop that methane from leaking into the atmosphere, the scientists lit it with fire, assuming the gas present in the pit would burn out within a few weeks.
    • The scientists seemed to have misjudged the amount of gas present in the pit, because the crater has been on fire for five decades now.

    A popular tourist attraction

    • The crater has become a significant tourist attraction in Turkmenistan.
    • In 2018, the country’s president officially renamed it as the “Shining of Karakum”.

    Why did Turkmenistan order to extinguish it?

    • Calling it a human-made crater, it has negative effects on both environment and the health of the people living nearby.
    • It also ends up losing valuable natural resources for which could fetch significant profits.

    How harmful are methane leaks?

    • Methane is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant and greenhouse gas, exposure to which causes 1 million premature deaths every year.
    • Methane is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Over a 20-year period, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.

    Back2Basics: TAPI Gas Pipeline

    • The Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline being developed with the participation of the Asian Development Bank.
    • It will be a 1,814km trans-country natural gas pipeline running across four countries.
    • It will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.
    • The plan for the TAPI project was originally conceived in the 1990s to generate revenue from Turkmenistan’s gas reserves by exporting natural gas via Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.
    • Construction on the project started in Turkmenistan on 13 December 2015, work on the Afghan section began in February 2018, and work on the Pakistani section was planned to commence in December 2018.
    • Presently, the construction work has been stalled due to terror activities of Taliban in Afghanistan since few years.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Places in news: Orang National Park

    The Assam government has recently issued a preliminary notification for adding 200.32 sq. km to the 78.82 sq. km Orang National Park, the State’s oldest reserve, about 110 km northeast of Guwahati.

    The government had in September 21 dropped the ‘Rajiv Gandhi’ prefix to Orang given by the government in 1992.

    Orang National Park

    • Orang NP is located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam.
    • It was established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a national park in 1999.
    • It has a rich flora and fauna, including great Indian rhinoceros, pygmy hog, Asian elephant, wild water buffalo and Bengal tiger.
    • Orang, on the northern bank of the river, is strategic to the Kaziranga Orang Riverine Landscape.
    • Tigers and rhinos are known to use the islands in this riverine landscape, about 180 km long, to hop between Orang and Kaziranga.

    Why in news?

    • The Assam government is pursuing a policy for the reintroduction of the gharial that became locally extinct more than six decades ago.
    • With better protection, the stretch of the Kaziranga-Orang landscape is ideal for sustaining the gharials.

    Back2Basics: National Park

    • Even before the Indian independence, sanctuaries had been created in the form of shooting blocks, game reserves or hunting reserves by the provisional governments or by the native rulers in their respective areas.
    • In 1936, the first National Park in India was created and named as the Hailey National Park, now called the Corbett National Park, in Uttaranchal.
    • The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 provides for the declaration of five types of protected areas viz. National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Community Reserves, Conservation Reserves and Tiger Reserves.
    • A National Park is defined by state government via notification under the WPA.
    • The state government can fix and alter boundaries of the National Parks with prior consultation and approval with National Board of Wildlife.
    • There is no need to pass an act for alternation of boundaries of National Parks.
    • No human activities are permitted in a National Park.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • China’s bridge over Pangong Tso

    China is building a bridge across the Pangong Tso area connecting the North and South Banks which will significantly reduce the time for moving troops and equipment between the two sides.

    About Pangong Tso

    • Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about 4,350 m.
    • It is 134 km long and extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China.
    • Approximately 60% of the length of the lake lies within the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
    • The lake is 5 km wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 sq.km.
    • During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.
    • It is not a part of the Indus river basin area and is geographically a separate landlocked river basin.
    • Earlier, Pangong Tso had an outlet to Shyok River, a tributary of Indus River, but it was closed off due to natural damming.

    Tactical significance of the lake

    • It lies in the path of the Chushul approach, one of the main approaches that China can use for an offensive into Indian Territory.
    • During the 1962 war, this was where China launched its main offensive — the Indian Army fought heroically at Rezang La under Maj. Shaitan Singh.
    • Not far away, to the north of the lake, is the Army’s Dhan Singh Thapa post, named after Major Dhan Singh Thapa who was awarded the country’s highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra.
    • Major Thapa and his platoon were manning the Sirijap-1 outpost which was essential for the defense of the Chushul airfield.

    Connectivity in the region

    • Over the years, the Chinese have built motorable roads along their banks of the Pangong Tso. This points to the importance accorded by the Chinese to the area.
    • Even during peacetime, the difference in perception over where the LAC lies on the northern bank of the lake makes this contested terrain.
    • In 1999, when the Army unit from the area was moved to Kargil for Operation Vijay, China took the opportunity to build 5 km of a road inside the Indian Territory along the lake’s bank.
    • From one of these roads, Chinese positions physically overlook Indian positions on the northern tip of the Pangong Tso Lake.

    What is the importance of the bridge over Pangong Tso?

    • The bridge over Pangong Tso is located around 25 kms ahead of the LAC in Chinese territory and will significantly reduce the time for movement of Chinese army.
    • The Indian Army gained tactical advantage over the PLA on the south bank in end August 2020 by occupying several peaks lying vacant since 1962 gaining a dominating view.
    • This has prompted China to build deep alternate roads behind the friction points away from the line of sight.

    How is India responding to developments on the ground?

    • The bridge is well within Chinese territory.
    • The implications of this new bridge will have to be factored in the Indian Army’s operational planning for the future.
    • On its part, over the last few years India has been focusing on infrastructure development in forward areas and improving connectivity to the forward areas.
    • Large-scale construction of roads, bridges and tunnels is underway all along the LAC.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Chisumle- Demchok: Worlds’ Highest Motorable Road

    Ladakh’s Chisumle-Demchok Road, when it crosses the Umling Pass, is now the world’s highest motorable road.

    Chisumle- Demchok Road

    • The project to build the road through the pass — a part of Border Roads Organization (BRO) Project Himank — had been completed in 2017, after which vehicles had started playing on the route.
    • The road is in south Ladakh. It passes through Umling La Pass, which is at a height of over 19,000 feet.
    • The height of the pass makes it the highest motorable road in the world, and was recently recognized as such by Guinness World Records.
    • The 52-km road ‘black-top’ tarmac road from Chisumle to Demchok betters the previous record of a road in Bolivia, which connects the volcano Uturuncu at 18,953 feet.
    • The road was built under extremely challenging conditions, as temperatures in the region can fall to below minus 40 degrees Celsius, and oxygen levels go down to 50 per cent below normal.

    Top of the world

    • At the pass, the road is higher than both the base camps for the climb to Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.
    • The South Base Camp in Nepal is at a height of 17,598 ft, while North Base Camp in Tibet is at 16,900 ft.
    • The Chisumle-Demchok road is also higher than the Siachen Glacier, which is situated at 17,700 feet.
    • Khardung La in Leh, which at one time was among the highest roads in the world, is at an altitude of 17,582 feet.

    Military significance of the road

    • This road provides a direct route from Chisumle, which lies on the major road coming from Leh, Karu and Nyoma.
    • All of these stations have important military stations which are close to the Line of Actual Control.
    • Demchok has been an India-China flashpoint earlier, the site of a standoff between the two armies in 2016.
    • In the current standoff in eastern Ladakh, which began in May 2020, Demchok has come up as a point of contention.

    Other benefits offered

    • The new axis will be helpful for the armed forces, making it easier to mobilize troops and equipment, including rations.
    • The road will not only enable faster movement of armed forces to the region but will also boost tourism and improve the socio-economic condition of the local people in the region.

    Certain limitations

    • Since the road goes through such a high pass, road transport will be unfeasible during the winter, when the armed forces rely on air support.

     

     

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Places in news: Deucha Pachami Coal Mines

    Thousands of Tribals fear displacement following the implementation of the project to mine coals and basalts from the Deucha-Pachami coal block in West Bengal’s Birbhoom district.

    Deucha-Pachami Mines

    • Deucha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harinsinga coal block is the second-largest coal block in the world; it is the largest in India.
    • It is located in Deucha and Panchamati area under Mohamad bazar community Development Block of Birbhum district, West Bengal.
    • The block has a thick coal seam trapped between equally thick layers of rocks, mostly basalt. It has a great economic value.
    • The existence of these thick basalt layers, however, makes mining of coal difficult; foreign investment and technology will be hence needed for mining.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)