What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1: The Disaster in Darjeeling

Context:

Darjeeling, often hailed as the “Queen of the Hills,” has once again been ravaged by a severe disaster triggered by heavy rainfall and consequent landslides. This calamity, which struck in early October, destroyed crucial infrastructure such as the Dudhni bridge over Balasun River—cutting off Siliguri from the hill town—and claimed several lives.

History of disasters in Darjeeling:

• Darjeeling’s vulnerability to natural disasters is not new. Its steep slopes, fragile geology, and high rainfall make it inherently prone to landslides.
• Historical records show devastating slides in 1899, 1934, 1950, 1968, 1975, 1980, 1991, and most recently in 2015, 2017, and 2020. The 1968 disaster remains one of the worst in the region’s history, killing over 1,200 people.
• While landslides and flash floods have long been part of the hill ecology, the intensity, frequency, and scale of destruction have multiplied over the years.
• Rapid urbanisation, reckless construction on fragile slopes, deforestation, and rampant mining of natural resourceshas severely weakened the natural resilience of the area.

Unsustainable Development and Demographic Pressures:

• The population of Darjeeling hills has grown sharply due to migration from neighboring plains and countries.
• With population pressure has come unplanned construction—multi-storey buildings mushrooming on steep slopes, often without retaining walls or adherence to safety norms.
• The once-forested slopes have been stripped bareto accommodate housing, hotels, and tea plantations.
• Moreover, the local economy has become over dependent on tourism.
• In the absence of strong building regulations, the tourism boom has led to uncontrolled property development, further burdening the fragile ecosystem.
• Roads, drainage systems, and waste management infrastructure have not kept pace with the exploding population.

Climatic Factors:

• The impact of climate change is starkly visible in the region.
• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)ranked Darjeeling 35th among India’s most landslide-prone districts, while the Geological Survey of India identified it as one of 147 highly exposed districts.
• Over the past three decades, rainfall patterns have changed dramatically.
• The number of rainy days has decreased, but the intensity of rainfall during short spells has risen sharply—leading to flash floods and slope failures.
• What used to be a steady monsoon has turned into extreme, unpredictable events.
• Scientists from the GLOF (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood)monitoring teams have also flagged the rising risk of glacial melt water flooding from the Eastern Himalayas, further endangering downstream areas like Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Failure of Disaster Management:

• Despite numerous expert studies and recurring disasters, governance in the Darjeeling hills remains weak and fragmented.
• The multiplicity of administrative bodies—municipalities, Panchayats, the district administration, and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration—has led to confusion and lack of accountability.
• There is little coordination among departments dealing with environment, infrastructure, and disaster management.
• Disaster preparedness remains largely reactive rather than preventive. Local authorities lack modern equipment, trained manpower, and real-time monitoring systems.
• Hill slope management techniques, such as terracing, drainage maintenance, and vegetation restoration, are rarely implemented.
• The Darjeeling district disaster management plan remains outdatedand largely unimplemented

Consequences of Disasters:

• The consequences of such recurring disasters extend beyond local hardship.
• The Siliguri corridor—India’s narrow “Chicken’s Neck” that connects the Northeast with the rest of the country—lies close to this fragile region.
• Any major disruption here can have serious implications for national security and connectivity.
• Economically, the destruction of tea gardens, roads, and tourism infrastructure weakens local livelihoods.
• Darjeeling’s globally famous tea industry, already under stress from labor shortages and climate variability, suffers further due to frequent landslides and transport blockages.
• Moreover, the region’s role as a hub for border trade and tourism in the eastern Himalayas makes its instability a national concern.

Multi-pronged strategy for Disaster management:

• To prevent Darjeeling from sliding further into crisis, a multi-pronged approach is essential:
• Scientific Land Use Planning: Strict zoning laws must prevent construction on high-risk slopes. Old landslide-prone zones should be declared “no-build” areas.
• Ecosystem Restoration: Large-scale afforestation, soil conservation, and watershed management programs must be prioritized.
• Strengthening Infrastructure:Roads, bridges, and drainage systems must be rebuilt with slope-stabilizing designs.
• Early Warning and Disaster Preparedness:Real-time weather and landslide monitoring, coupled with community-level awareness and evacuation drills, should be institutionalized.
• Integrated Governance:Coordination between the state government, GTA, and local municipalities should be streamlined under a unified disaster management framework.

Way Forward:

The tragedy in Darjeeling is not merely a natural disaster; it is a man-made one, shaped by decades of environmental neglect, unplanned development, and institutional apathy. Darjeeling is a grim reminder of how fragile ecosystems can collapse when policy, planning, and prudence fail to work in harmony. Protecting Darjeeling is not just about saving a tourist destination it is about securing an ecologically sensitive frontier vital to India’s economy and national security.

 

Editorial 2: An Energy Atmanirbharta Act

Context:

Despite technological progress and changing global energy patterns, India’s dependence on imported hydrocarbons continues to threaten its economic stability and strategic autonomy. The government should institutionalize an Energy Atmanirbharta Act — a comprehensive, coordinated approach to ensure India’s energy resilience, sustainability, and independence.

Need for a Unified Energy Vision:

• India’s developmental vision, reflected in “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India) and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-reliant India), demands an equally strong energy policy.
• However, the country currently lacks a central authority that oversees the entire energy ecosystemincluding coal, oil, gas, renewable, and nuclear energy.
• Responsibilities are fragmented across multiple ministries, leading to policy incoherence.
• Government must create a Ministry of Energy headed by a cabinet-rank ministerto coordinate and implement an integrated energy roadmap.
• This would ensure consistency across various sectors, efficient resource allocation, and faster decision-making.
• The new framework should link energy security with three complementary goals— economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, and social inclusiveness.

Self-Sufficiency and Self-Reliance:

• There is a key distinction between self-sufficiency and self-reliance.
• Self-sufficiencyimplies producing all that a country consumes — an unrealistic goal for India, which currently imports about 85% of its crude oil and 50% of its gas.
• Self-reliance, on the other hand, means ensuring energy security through diversified supply chains, domestic production, innovation, and reduced vulnerability to external shocks.
• India’s dependence on imported hydrocarbons is rooted in limited exploration success and slow commercial development of domestic reserves.
• Although the country has 26 sedimentary basins, most remain underexplored due to regulatory hurdles and technological constraints.
• Therefore, rather than pursuing total self-sufficiency, India must aim for strategic self-reliance. It involves achieving resilience through diversification and domestic capability-building.

Three guiding pillars for the proposed Energy Atmanirbharta Act:

• Energy Security: Ensuring uninterrupted, affordable, and reliable energy supply through domestic production, diversification of imports, and storage infrastructure.
• India must reduce exposure to volatile international marketsby developing strategic reserves and expanding renewable energy sources.
• Energy Transition: Accelerating the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy. This includes expanding solar and wind capacity, developing green hydrogen, electrifying transport, and improving energy efficiency.
• India should align its energy transition with its developmental needs, balancing growth with environmental responsibility.
• Technological and Industrial Independence: Building domestic capacity to manufacture critical energy technologies such as batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines, rather than relying heavily on imports from countries like China.
• This also involves securing access to essential mineralssuch as lithium, cobalt, and nickel through strategic international partnerships with resource-rich nations like Australia and Indonesia.

Historical lessons from Global oil crisis and present global uncertainties:

• The 1973 oil crisisexposed how dependence on foreign energy can cripple economies.
• Nations like Japan responded by diversifying energy sources, improving efficiency, and investing in renewable energy.
• Similarly, India must learn from history and insulate itself from future global energy disruptions.
• Today’s geopolitical tensions  including the Russia-Ukraine war, U.S.-China rivalry, and disruptions in critical mineral supply chains further highlight the need for a resilient energy strategy.
• While fossil fuel markets remain uncertain, the green energy transition has created new dependencies on minerals and technologies concentrated in a few countries.
• India must therefore secure diversified, long-term partnerships and invest in domestic processing of critical materialsto avoid repeating past mistakes.

Sustainable energy development:

• India’s energy policy cannot focus solely on economics; it must also incorporate ecological responsibility.
• Global efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C have largely failed, and the burden of balancing growth with climate goals is now greater than ever.
• India, as one of the fastest-growing major economies, must demonstrate that it can pursue rapid development without compromising environmental integrity.
• This requires stronger domestic policies on renewable expansion, green financing, carbon pricing, and technology innovation.
• India should also actively participate in global climate diplomacy not merely as a follower, but as a proactive leader shaping the future of sustainable energy.
• The proposed Energy Atmanirbharta Act should serve as a strategic framework that unifies India’s diverse energy policies under one vision. It should institutionalize coordination among ministries and states.
• It must promote domestic exploration, clean technology, and critical mineral processing, encourage private sector participation and research innovation.
• It should integrate energy access, affordability, and sustainabilityinto policy outcomes.

Way Forward:

Energy Atmanirbharta does not mean the isolation from global systems. It means intelligent integration using global partnerships to strengthen domestic capabilities. The Act would ensure India’s energy independence while fulfilling its commitments to climate responsibility and economic growth. An Energy Atmanirbharta Act would not only safeguard India from future energy crises but also position it as a leader in the global energy transition. This vision of energy independence must become a cornerstone of India’s journey toward Viksit Bharat.