Physical Geography
Cloudburst
• A cloudburst over the Kheer Ganga River (a tributary of Alaknanda River) led to flash floods in Uttarkashi district.
About cloudburst
▪ If 10 cm rainfall is received at a station in one hour, the rain event is termed as cloud burst.
▪ They are difficult to predict due to their small scale and short duration.
▪ Monitoring requires dense radar networks or high-resolution weather models.
▪ Though possible in plains, they are more common in hilly areas due to the terrain.
▪ National Disaster Management Plan, 2019, provides for Cloudburst Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy.
Environment and ecology
’Microplastic’ pollution
▪ The primary sources of microplastic pollution along the Indian coastline are riverine inputs and abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG).
▪ The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), via the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), conducted a study from 2022 to 2025
✓ West coast: 19 transects from Porbandar (Gujarat) to Kanniyakumari (Tamil Nadu)
✓ East coast: 25 transects from Puri (Odisha) to Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu)
▪ Microplastic Definition:
✓ Plastic particles sized 1 micrometre to 5 millimetres
✓ Primary microplastics: manufactured at that size
✓ Secondary microplastics: formed from breakdown of larger plastics.
The Potential of Biochar in India
What is Biochar?
▪ Biochar is a carbon-rich charcoal made from agricultural residue and organic municipal solid waste.
▪ It is a sustainable waste management solution and a carbon capture method.
Byproducts & Energy Potential:
▪ Syngas (20–30 million tonnes): could generate 8–13 TWh of electricity (0.5–0.7% of national
total)
▪ Bio-oil (24–40 million tonnes): could offset 12–19 million tonnes of diesel/kerosene use
▪ Potential to replace 0.4–0.7 million tonnes of coal and reduce >2% of fossil-fuel-based
emissions
Its potential extends to several sectors:
▪ Carbon Sequestration: Biochar can hold carbon in the soil for 100 to 1,000 years, acting as a longterm carbon sink.
▪ Agriculture: Applying biochar to soil can improve water retention, abate nitrous oxide emissions (which have 273 times the warming potential of CO2), enhance soil organic carbon, reduce fertilizer
requirements by 10-20%, and increase crop yields by 10-25%.
▪ Wastewater Treatment: Biochar offers a low-cost and effective method to reduce pollution, with one kilogram capable of treating 200-500 liters of wastewater.
▪ Carbon Capture: Modified biochar can be used to adsorb CO2 from industrial exhaust gases, though its efficiency is currently lower than conventional methods.
