Punjab Floods: A Man-Made Disaster Amplified by Climate Change and Governance Failures
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Geography of India (Indian Monsoon, River Systems of Punjab); Environment (Climate Change impacts); Disaster Management.
Mains:
General Studies Paper 1 (Geography): Important Geophysical phenomena such as floods; Urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
General Studies Paper 3 (Disaster Management & Environment): Disaster and disaster management; Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.
Key Highlights from the News
Punjab is facing its worst floods in decades, leading to significant loss of life, agricultural damage, and economic losses.
While heavy rains are the primary cause of the floods, several human interventions have exacerbated the crisis.
Main human-made causes: Clogged drainage systems, encroachments on the banks of rivers and other natural waterways, unscientific construction activities, and illegal mining from riverbeds.
Climate experts state that climate change, altering the nature of the monsoon and increasing rainfall intensity, is a major contributing factor to this problem.
The warming of the Arabian Sea is unusually bringing more moisture to the region, causing extremely heavy rainfall.
This disaster highlights the repercussions when weak governance and development policies that disregard nature converge.
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