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

Editorial 1: Securing valleys and slopes

Context:

The recent devastating floods in Dehradun have once again highlighted the fragility of mountainous states in India. The 2025 monsoon unleashed destruction across Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, reminding us of the Himalayas’ vulnerability to extreme weather, unstable geology, and fragile ecosystems. These floods underline the urgency of strengthening disaster preparedness, integrating modern technology, and ensuring coordinated responses.

Challenges of the Himalayan Landscape:

• The Himalayan region is prone to frequent floods, cloudbursts, landslides, and glacial lake outbursts. The terrain, marked by steep valleys and fragile slopes, makes both rescue and relief operations difficult.
• Rapid urbanization, unplanned construction, and road-cutting projects have further destabilized slopes, while climate change intensifies rainfall variability and extreme events.
• Every year, local communities and disaster management forces face repeated cycles of tragedy. Unlike the plains, where water flows out easily, the mountains trap floods in valleys, sweeping away homes, roads, and fields.
• This geographical reality demands a specialized and proactive approach to disaster management.

Present Disaster response regime:

• The present disaster response regime has responded to these disasters with speed, coordination, and innovation.
• Soldiers, engineers, paramilitary forces, disaster response officials, and local government officials have coordinated to save lives.
• In J&K, during floods in Chenab and Tawi rivers, Army laid Bailey bridges within an hour, Air Force deployed its helicopters and the NDRF surged in with the specialist teams.
• During Punjab floods, NDMA coordinated with Central Water Commission, IMD, and BBMB to regulate water releases from Bhakra and Pong dams and prevent catastrophic breaches.
• Drone imageries are used extensively to assess the damage and guide relief efforts.
• In Uttarakhand, Army built a 400-foot aerial cableway; Airforce used its Chinook to lift heavy equipments. SDRF and ITBP, supported by drones and satellite communication links, ensured quick evacuation.
• While the official response was agile, it was still largely reactive rather than preventive.
• The intensity of rainfall was underestimated, and technology was not adequately deployed in advance.
• This point to systemic weaknesses in India’s disaster management approach in the Himalayas.

Use of technology in Disaster Management:

• To manage disasters in the Himalayas effectively, India must move beyond conventional relief measures. A technology scale-up is essential for effective disaster management.
• Geospatial Monitoring: The Geological Survey of India (GSI) must expand slope stability and landslide mapping.
• The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)should use satellites to monitor glacial lakes, river flows, and snowmelt in real time.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data:Predictive models based on rainfall patterns, soil data, and satellite imagery should warn communities days before disasters strike.
• Gorakhpur Model of urban flood controlshould be used as case study for developing flood control models suitable to the local condition.
• AI-enabled platforms can integrate data from sensors, drones, and satellites for dynamic risk assessment.
• Drones and high-resolution satellites should be used to continuously monitor vulnerable valleys.
• Automated sirens, alarms, and early-warning apps can be used to alert villages of rising water levels.
• Digital mapping of roads, slopes, and catchment areas can identify choke points.
• Flood-resistant housing and slope-protecting embankments must replace haphazard construction.
• Disaster education needs to be integrated into schools and colleges in mountain states.
• Panchayats must hold regular mock drills, ensuring that every village knows evacuation routes and shelter points.

Institutional and Policy Measures:

• Despite the early warning SMS sent to many phone users, many people remain unaware of the disaster response.  Machail and Gangotri corridors have seen increased footfall of pilgrims even during red alert.
• Construction in riverbeds, slope destabilization by unchecked developments continues abated in the Himalayas.
• Agencies like the NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) must strengthen collaboration with local governments.
• NDMA’s Aapda Mitra programmemust be extended to cover schools, Panchayats, and resident welfare Associations.
• State governments should organize regular training and awareness events jointly with the NDMA.
• Temporary shelters, equipped with modern sanitation and healthcare, should be pre-identified and stocked before the monsoon.
• Legal frameworks also need updating. Clear accountability mechanisms must ensure that construction projects in sensitive Himalayan zones are strictly monitored.
• Currently, violations of environmental laws and lax regulation contribute to recurring disasters.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Defense Forces must work together under a common national framework for Himalayan disaster resilience. At present, fragmented approaches weaken overall preparedness.

Building a Future-Ready System:

• The vision must be preventive, not just reactive.
• The Himalayan region cannot afford to live in a cycle of “disaster → rescue → rehabilitation → repeat.” Instead, it must be reimagined through technology, foresight, and community resilience.
• Roads and river embankments must be built with slope stabilization to prevent landslides, mudslides and land leaching.
• The illegal sand mining makes the dams fragile; it must be curbed using suitable legislations, proper patrolling, and community participation.
• The density of Doppler radarsmust be expanded across valleys, and early warning systems must be made more localized. This also requires developing trained workforce in Disaster management.
• Sustainable building practices, adherence to seismic codes, and strict enforcement of “no-build zones” along riverbanks must be increased.
• All future development projects must be made “Disaster Resilience” in the ecologically-fragile Himalaya.

Way Forward:

The climate change has made Himalayan disasters both frequent and severe. While the government’s disaster response machinery has become quicker, the overall approach remains insufficiently proactive. Only a large-scale infusion of technology, backed by legal enforcement and grassroots awareness, can secure the fragile slopes and valleys of the Himalayas. India must treat the Himalayas as an ecological treasure and a high-risk zone simultaneously. Protecting lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems here will require political will, cutting-edge technology, and continuous vigilance.

 

Editorial 2: From Buddha’s First Sermon to the Emblem of Indian Republic

Context:

Recently India has officially nominated the Sarnath to the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2025-26 year. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is planning to place a new plaque crediting Babu Jagat Singh for first excavating it in 1787-88. Presently, Jonathan Duncan, a British Indologist, is credited to have first reported this site in 1798.

A Sacred Buddhist Site:

• Sarnath, located near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, holds a special place in the history of India and world religions. It was here, in the 6th century BCE, that Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya.
• This event, known as the Dhammachakrapravartana(setting in motion the wheel of Dharma), marked the formal beginning of the Buddhist Sangha and made Sarnath one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Buddhists worldwide.
• Sarnath came to embody the spiritual significance of Buddhism.
• The site is mentioned in numerous Buddhist texts and traditions as the location where Buddha expounded the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
• Buddhist texts such as Mrigadava, Rishipatnahave mentioned this place, but its exact location was not mentioned.
• Over the centuries, stupas, monasteries, and art works were established there, with its influence spreading across India and beyond.
• Mauryan emperor Ashoka, after embracing Buddhism, visited Sarnath and erected monuments to commemorate its importance. Among these, the Ashokan Lion Capitalbecame the most iconic.
• This polished sandstone sculpture of four lions back-to-back symbolized power, courage, and Dharma.
• It was later adopted as the national emblem of India in 1950, engraved on the Indian currency and government insignia, thereby linking Sarnath permanently to the identity of modern India.
• Sarnath was later patronized by Kushanas and Gupta rulers who refurbished Ashokan structures and built new ones such as monastery which survive till their destruction in 12^thcentury AD.

Growth and Decline of Sarnath:

• Between the 3rd century BCE and the 12th century CE, Sarnath flourished as a major Buddhist learning and cultural centre.
• Magnificent stupas such as the Dhamekh Stupaand monasteries built under the patronage of rulers like the Guptas and Harshavardhana made it an international hub of Buddhist scholarship.
• Pilgrims and scholars from China, including Faxian and Xuanzang, visited and documented the splendor of Sarnath.
• However, by the late medieval period, Sarnath faced a sharp decline.
• There is theory that it was destroyed during the invasion of Qutub-ud-din Aibak in 1193, he destroyed many idols, temples to acquire wealth and land. This led the surviving monks flee the monastery, after which it fell into ruins.
• One of the theory propounded by historians argue that around mid-twelfth century, Buddhists were forced to flee as Saivaite temple was erected on the site. It was later destroyed during Muslim invasions.
• With the revival of Brahmanical Hinduism and successive invasions, the Buddhist institutions began to deteriorate.
• In the 12th century, Turkish invasions caused widespread destruction. The monasteries were razed, monks dispersed, and the monuments left in ruins.
• By the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Sarnath had largely fallen into obscurity, its sacred heritage buried under centuries of neglect.

Rediscovery in Modern Times:

• Sarnath’s revival came with colonial-era archaeological efforts.
• The credit for its rediscovery goes to Jagat Singh, the Diwan of Raja Chait Singh of Benares. His workers were digging the site to retrieve brick and stone for the new marketplace being built in his name. They discovered the inscribed pedestal of an image of the Buddha and two stone reliquaries.
• Jonathan Duncan, who established Sanskrit college at Varanasi in 1791, has also reported these findings in 1799.
• In the 19th century, British officials like Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), began excavations.
• They unearthed stupas, sculptures, and inscriptions that re-established Sarnath’s importance in Indian and Buddhist history. He also discovered sandstone box from the Dharmarajika Stupa.
• Later the site was more extensively excavated in 1904-05 by archaeologist Freidrich Oertelwith the discovery of 476 architectural and sculptural relics and 41 inscriptions.
• The discovery of the Ashokan Lion Capital in 1905was particularly significant. This finely carved piece of Mauryan art was adopted by free India in 1950 as the national emblem, with the motto “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth alone triumphs) inscribed below it.
• Sarnath thereby transcended its religious role and acquired a place in the political and cultural identity of the Republic of India.

Way Forward:

• Sarnath’s journey from being the site of Buddha’s first sermon to becoming a national symbol captures the essence of India’s cultural history. It is a story of how religion, art, and politics intersect to create enduring symbols of identity.
• Sarnath exemplifies the themes of Buddhist history, Mauryan art, colonial archaeology, and nation-building in modern India. Its Lion Capital, once a spiritual marker, now stands as the emblem of the world’s largest democracy — embodying both India’s ancient wisdom and modern sovereignty.