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August 27th Current Affairs

Home / UPSC / Current affairs / UPSC Current Affairs – August 27th

Table of Contents

157 Killed in Nepal Flash Floods, Hundreds Missing

What happened?

A massive flash flood struck Nepal’s Rasuwa district near the Nepal–China (Tibet) border on August 26, 2026, killing at least 157 people in Nepal, according to Nepalese police, while hundreds remain missing. The disaster affected the Bhote Koshi river system and nearby settlements, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.

The tragedy is particularly important because the flood was not simply a conventional monsoon flood. Initial assessments indicate that an ice-rock/glacial collapse triggered a sudden debris flow and flash flood. The US Geological Survey later indicated that the seismic signal initially interpreted as an earthquake was associated with the glacial collapse and debris flow.

How did the disaster occur?

Glacial/ice-rock collapse → Lhende Khola blockage → sudden release of water + debris → flash flood → destruction downstream

An ice-rock avalanche entered the Lhende Khola, a tributary associated with the Bhote Koshi River, creating a sudden surge of water, ice, rocks and mud.

This is different from an ordinary river flood because a flash flood develops extremely rapidly, giving people very little time to evacuate.

Why was it so destructive?

    • Steep Himalayan terrain accelerated the flow.
    • Large quantities of rocks, ice, mud and debris were carried downstream.
    • Roads and bridges were washed away.
    • Communication and electricity infrastructure was damaged.
    • Some affected areas had little or no advance warning.
    • The region contains important hydropower projects and tourist/pilgrimage routes.

Flash Flood vs GLOF

  1. Flash Flood

A flash flood is a sudden and rapid flooding event, generally occurring within a short period after intense rainfall, dam/barrage failure, landslide blockage failure or other sudden water release.

  1. Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)

A GLOF occurs when a glacial lake suddenly releases a large volume of water, often because its natural moraine/ice dam fails.

Important: Do not automatically call this event a GLOF.

The current evidence points more specifically towards an ice-rock/glacial collapse and debris flow, rather than a classic glacial lake outburst.

Why is the Himalayas vulnerable?

The Himalayan region is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters because of:

Climate warming
↓
Glacier retreat & destabilisation
↓
Unstable slopes and expanding glacial lakes
↓
Higher risk of GLOFs, avalanches and landslides
↓
Flash floods

Researchers have highlighted that warming is increasing the vulnerability of Himalayan glaciers and surrounding terrain.

Climate Change + Disaster Management

This incident demonstrates the compound nature of Himalayan disasters:

Climate change + fragile mountain ecology + seismic activity/terrain instability + infrastructure development + tourism = increasing disaster risk

India Connection

This disaster has significant relevance for India.

  1. Indians among those missing

A significant number of Indian nationals were reported missing, including pilgrims and tourists travelling through the region. Reports cited at least 133 Indian nationals among those missing in the initial updates.

  1. Downstream impact

The Himalayan river systems are transboundary. Sudden floods originating in the Himalayan region can affect downstream areas of India.

Flood alerts and precautionary measures were consequently relevant in Indian states downstream, particularly along river systems connected to Nepal.

  1. India–Nepal cooperation

The disaster highlights the importance of:

  • Cross-border early-warning systems
  • Hydrological data sharing
  • Disaster-response cooperation
  • Search and rescue coordination
  • Satellite-based monitoring
  • Climate adaptation in the Himalayas

India has also moved relief assistance towards flood-hit Nepal.

Geography for UPSC

Locate these places on the map:

Nepal → Rasuwa District → Rasuwagadhi → Lhende Khola → Bhote Koshi River → Trishuli River

The affected region lies in the Himalayan mountain system, close to the Nepal–China border.

Rivers involved

Lhende Khola → Bhote Koshi system → Trishuli → Gandaki river system

This makes the incident relevant to Himalayan drainage and transboundary river management.

Impact on Infrastructure

The floods damaged:

  • Roads
  • Bridges
  • Houses
  • Communication networks
  • Electricity infrastructure
  • Hydropower projects
  • Tourism infrastructure

This is especially important because Nepal is heavily dependent on its mountain rivers for hydropower potential. Disaster-resilient infrastructure is therefore essential for sustainable development.

Disaster Management: What should be done?

Short-term measures

  1. Search and rescue operations
  2. Evacuation from vulnerable valleys
  3. Emergency medical assistance
  4. Restoration of roads and communication
  5. Identification of missing persons
  6. International and regional humanitarian assistance

Long-term measures

  1. Early Warning Systems

Install real-time monitoring of:

  • Glaciers
  • Glacial lakes
  • River discharge
  • Landslides
  • Rainfall
  • Seismic activity
  1. Hazard Zonation

Identify areas vulnerable to:

  • GLOFs
  • Flash floods
  • Landslides
  • Avalanches
  1. Climate-resilient infrastructure

Roads, bridges and hydropower projects should incorporate Himalayan hazard assessments.

  1. Transboundary cooperation

Nepal, India and China need better mechanisms for sharing hydrological and disaster-related information.

Thiruvathira Dance – Kerala’s Traditional Women’s Group Dance

Why in News?

Thiruvathirakali, also known as Kaikottikali, is a traditional group dance performed mainly by women in Kerala. It is associated particularly with the Thiruvathira festival and is also performed during Onam.

The dance is characterised by graceful movements, rhythmic clapping and circular formations around a traditional oil lamp (Nilavilakku).

Key Features

Feature

Details

State

Kerala

Type

Folk/ritual group dance

Performers

Traditionally women

Other name

Kaikottikali

Main occasions

Thiruvathira and Onam

Central element

Nilavilakku (traditional oil lamp)

Music

Thiruvathira songs and devotional/folk songs

Costume

Mundu and Neriyathu; traditional jewellery

Movement

Circular formations, rhythmic clapping and graceful steps

Associated deity

Shiva–Parvati

Kerala Tourism notes that the name Kaikottikali refers to the characteristic clapping movements of the dance.

Religious & Cultural Significance

Thiruvathira is associated with Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

According to traditional belief, Thiruvathira commemorates the union of Shiva and Parvati. Women traditionally perform rituals and observe practices associated with marital well-being and harmony.

The dance therefore combines:

Religious tradition + Women’s cultural participation + Folk music + Community celebration

How is the dance performed?

Usually, 8–10 women form a circle around a Nilavilakku.

The performance involves:

  • Rhythmic clapping
  • Gentle and graceful footwork
  • Forward, backward and sideways movements
  • Circular formations
  • Singing of Thiruvathira songs
  • Changes in formation and position

The dance has traditionally been transmitted informally from one generation to another, rather than through a formal classical-dance training system.

Traditional Costume

The dancers traditionally wear:

  • Mundu and Neriyathu
  • Gold jewellery
  • Jasmine flowers in their hair
  • Traditional Kerala-style attire

This distinctive costume contributes to the visual identity of Kerala’s traditional performing arts.

Thiruvathira Festival

Thiruvathira is associated with the Thiruvathira star (nakshatra) during the Malayalam month of Dhanu, which generally falls between December and January.

Important distinction for Prelims

Thiruvathira ≠ Thiruvathirakali

  • Thiruvathira → festival/observance
  • Thiruvathirakali → dance performed as part of the cultural and ritual celebrations

Thiruvathirakali vs Classical Dance

Thiruvathirakali is generally treated as a traditional folk/ritual dance, rather than one of India’s recognised classical dance forms.

Classical dances of India include:

Bharatanatyam – Tamil Nadu
Kathak – North India
Kathakali – Kerala
Kuchipudi – Andhra Pradesh
Odissi – Odisha
Manipuri – Manipur
Mohiniyattam – Kerala
Sattriya – Assam

Thiruvathirakali is NOT a classical dance form.

The High Cost of India’s Private Health-Care Boom

Why in News?

The article examines the rapid expansion of private healthcare in India and the growing concern that increased private investment, while necessary to expand healthcare capacity, can also result in high treatment costs, over-medicalisation and financial burden on patients.

The central policy challenge is:

How can India attract private capital into healthcare without allowing profit incentives to undermine affordability and quality of care?

The issue is particularly important because India’s public health system alone is unable to meet the growing demand for secondary and tertiary healthcare.

Why has private healthcare expanded in India?

India’s private healthcare sector has grown because of:

  • Rising incomes and demand for better healthcare
  • Increasing urbanisation
  • Growth of health insurance
  • Shortage of adequate public hospitals
  • Demand for specialised and tertiary treatment
  • Availability of advanced medical technology
  • Private equity and foreign investment in healthcare

Role of private investment

Private and foreign capital can help India:

Investment → New hospitals → More beds → Modern technology → Skilled services → Greater healthcare capacity

This is especially important in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, where healthcare infrastructure remains inadequate.

However, the problem arises when the financial return expected by investors begins influencing clinical decisions.

The High Cost Problem

  1. The article highlights a substantial difference between the cost of treatment in private and public facilities.

    According to the 176th Parliamentary Standing Committee report, average hospitalisation expenditure was approximately:

    • Private sector – ₹50,508
    • Public sector – ₹6,631

    For childbirth:

    • Private sector – ₹37,630
    • Public sector – ₹2,299

    These figures demonstrate the significant affordability gap between public and private healthcare.

    What does this mean?

    Even when private healthcare improves accessibility, high prices can create financial hardship, particularly for middle-class and lower-income households.

    Problem of “Over-medicalisation”

    One of the most important concepts from the article is over-medicalisation.

    What does it mean?

    It refers to situations where medical interventions, diagnostic tests or procedures may be used more than medically necessary.

    For example:

    Revenue targets + procedure-based incentives + information asymmetry

    ⬇️

    More diagnostic tests / procedures

    ⬇️

    Higher hospital bills

    ⬇️

    Higher insurance claims

    ⬇️

    Higher insurance premiums

    ⬇️

    Greater healthcare costs for citizens

Information Asymmetry

In healthcare, the patient generally does not possess the same medical knowledge as the doctor/hospital.

Therefore:

Doctor/Hospital → More information

Patient → Less information

This creates information asymmetry.

A patient may not be able to determine whether:

  • A particular test is necessary
  • A particular procedure is essential
  • Hospitalisation is actually required
  • An expensive treatment has a cheaper equivalent

This makes healthcare different from an ordinary market.

Why price regulation alone is NOT enough

A possible solution is to impose price caps on private hospitals.

But the article points out a major limitation.

Suppose the government caps:

Room charges

Hospitals may compensate by increasing:

  • Consultation fees
  • Diagnostic charges
  • Procedure charges
  • Consumable charges
  • Other hospital services

Therefore, regulating only individual components may not control the overall cost of treatment.

Suggested approach: Standardised payment mechanisms

One approach discussed is the use of Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs).

What is a DRG?

Under a DRG-based system, hospitals receive a predetermined payment for treating a particular diagnosis/condition, rather than charging separately for every individual item.

For example:

Instead of:

Consultation + Room + Test + Medicine + Procedure + Equipment + Nursing + Miscellaneous

the system could provide a standardised reimbursement for a particular diagnosis and treatment category.

Benefit

It can reduce incentives for unnecessary procedures and improve cost predictability.

Why public healthcare remains important

The article’s major policy message is that private healthcare cannot substitute for a strong public healthcare system.

India needs both:

Strong public sector

→ Affordable primary healthcare
→ Preventive care
→ Rural healthcare
→ Universal access

AND

Responsible private sector

→ Advanced technology
→ Tertiary care
→ Investment
→ Innovation
→ Additional hospital capacity

Therefore, the objective should not be:

Public OR Private

but:

Strong Public + Regulated Private Healthcare

India’s Healthcare Challenge

India faces a three-way challenge:

  1. Accessibility

Are healthcare services available?

  1. Affordability

Can people afford them?

  1. Quality

Are the services safe and effective?

Private healthcare may improve availability and quality, but affordability can become a concern.

Therefore:

Healthcare expansion without affordability does not guarantee universal health coverage.

What should India do?

    1. Strengthen public healthcare

    Particularly:

    • Primary Health Centres
    • Community Health Centres
    • District hospitals
    • Preventive healthcare
    • Rural healthcare
    1. Improve regulation

    Ensure:

    • Transparent billing
    • Standard treatment protocols
    • Clinical audits
    • Disclosure of treatment costs
    • Regulation of unnecessary procedures
    1. Encourage responsible private investment

    Private capital should be encouraged particularly for creating new healthcare capacity, rather than merely concentrating ownership of existing hospitals.

    1. Strengthen health insurance

    Insurance can reduce catastrophic expenditure, but insurance coverage alone cannot solve the problem if hospital prices continue to rise.

    1. Promote preventive healthcare

    Greater investment in:

    • Nutrition
    • Sanitation
    • Vaccination
    • Screening
    • Primary healthcare

    can reduce the need for expensive tertiary treatment.

Making India’s Food System Climate-Proof Cannot Wait

Why in News?

The article highlights an urgent concern: climate change is increasingly threatening India’s food system, from crop production to water availability, livestock, fisheries, storage and food prices.

India cannot depend on past climate patterns to plan future agriculture. Erratic monsoons, heatwaves, droughts, floods and changing pest patterns are making agricultural production more uncertain. The need is therefore to move from reactive relief measures to anticipatory, climate-resilient planning. Recent climate assessments and policy discussions similarly emphasise that Indian agriculture needs greater resilience to weather variability.

How does climate change affect India's food system?

Think of the food system as:

Farm → Storage → Transport → Processing → Markets → Consumer

Climate change can disrupt every stage.

  1. 🌡️ Rising temperatures

Higher temperatures can:

  • Reduce crop yields
  • Increase water requirements
  • Cause heat stress in livestock
  • Affect flowering and grain formation
  • Increase pest and disease pressure

For example, wheat is particularly vulnerable to heat stress during critical stages of crop development.

  1. Erratic monsoon

Indian agriculture remains highly dependent on the monsoon.

Changing rainfall can produce:

Delayed monsoon → Dry spell → Crop stress

or

Intense rainfall → Flooding/waterlogging → Crop damage

Therefore, more rainfall does not necessarily mean more agricultural productivity.

  1. Floods and extreme rainfall

Excess rainfall can:

  • Destroy standing crops
  • Cause soil erosion
  • Damage irrigation infrastructure
  • Disrupt roads and supply chains
  • Increase post-harvest losses
  1. Drought and water stress

Agriculture competes with:

  • Drinking-water requirements
  • Industrial demand
  • Ecological needs

Climate change can intensify water scarcity, particularly in already water-stressed regions.

Why small and marginal farmers are particularly vulnerable?

Small farmers often have:

  • Limited savings
  • Small landholdings
  • Less access to irrigation
  • Limited access to technology
  • Weak access to formal credit
  • Greater dependence on rainfall

Therefore:

Climate shock → Crop loss → Income loss → Debt → Reduced ability to invest → Greater vulnerability

This creates a climate-poverty trap.

What does “Climate-Proof Food System” mean?

It does not mean that agriculture can be completely protected from climate change.

It means creating a food system that is:

Resilient + Adaptive + Sustainable + Diversified

A climate-resilient system should be able to:

withstand climate shocks, recover quickly and continue supplying affordable and nutritious food.

  1. Crop Diversification

India should move away from excessive dependence on a limited number of crops.

Why?

Different crops have different climate requirements.

For example:

Millets + Pulses + Oilseeds + Traditional crops

can provide greater resilience than excessive dependence on water-intensive crops in unsuitable regions.

Millets such as ragi, jowar and bajra are particularly relevant because several millet varieties are relatively well adapted to dry and variable agro-climatic conditions.

Crop diversification = Risk diversification

If one crop fails because of a particular climatic event, other crops can still provide income and food.

  1. Water-Smart Agriculture

India needs to produce more crop per drop of water.

Important measures:

  • Drip irrigation
  • Sprinkler irrigation
  • Rainwater harvesting
  • Watershed development
  • Farm ponds
  • Soil-moisture conservation
  • Groundwater management

Important scheme:

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) focuses on improving irrigation coverage and water-use efficiency.

  1. Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties

Agricultural research should develop varieties that can tolerate:

  • Heat
  • Drought
  • Flooding
  • Salinity
  • Pests and diseases

India has been expanding research and release of climate-resilient crop varieties as part of agricultural adaptation.

Example:

Heat-tolerant wheat varieties

can help reduce yield losses during unusually warm conditions.

  1. Agroforestry

Agroforestry = Trees + Crops and/or Livestock on the same land

Benefits:

  • Reduces soil erosion
  • Improves soil health
  • Provides additional income
  • Stores carbon
  • Improves microclimate
  • Diversifies farm output

It can therefore provide both adaptation and mitigation benefits.

  1. Climate-resilient livestock and fisheries

Climate-proofing food systems cannot focus only on crops.

Livestock

Heat stress can reduce:

  • Milk production
  • Reproductive efficiency
  • Animal health

Solutions include:

  • Heat-tolerant breeds
  • Better animal shelters
  • Improved fodder
  • Water availability

Fisheries

Changing ocean temperatures and ecosystems can affect fish distribution and fish stocks.

Therefore, marine and inland fisheries also need climate adaptation strategies.

  1. Better Weather Forecasting & Early Warning

One of the most important solutions is climate information services.

Farmers should receive timely information about:

  • Rainfall
  • Heatwaves
  • Drought
  • Cyclones
  • Pest outbreaks
  • Soil moisture
  • Crop advisories

From:

Disaster → Relief

To:

Forecast → Preparedness → Adaptation → Reduced Loss

This represents the shift from reactive to anticipatory climate adaptation, an increasingly important policy requirement for India.

  1. Climate-Responsive Crop Insurance

Crop insurance is an important risk-transfer mechanism.

If climate-related crop losses occur:

Insurance → Compensation → Income protection → Ability to restart farming

The challenge is ensuring:

  • Timely settlement
  • Accurate loss assessment
  • Adequate coverage
  • Greater awareness among farmers

Technology such as satellite imagery and remote sensing can improve assessment of crop losses.

  1. Climate-proof the entire food supply chain

A common mistake is to focus only on farmers.

Climate resilience must extend to:

Production

Climate-resilient crops

↓

Storage

Climate-controlled and scientific storage

↓

Transport

Weather-resilient roads and logistics

↓

Processing

Efficient and resilient food-processing infrastructure

↓

Markets

Stable supply and prices

↓

Consumers

Affordable and nutritious food

Food Security ≠ Only Food Production

Food security has four major dimensions:

  1. Availability

Is enough food produced?

  1. Accessibility

Can people obtain it?

  1. Affordability

Can households afford it?

  1. Stability

Can these conditions be maintained despite shocks?

Climate change can threaten all four.

Why is this particularly important for India?

Agriculture has a much wider significance than food production.

It affects:

Agriculture → Rural employment → Farmer income → Food prices → Inflation → Nutrition → Poverty → Economic growth

Therefore, climate-resilient agriculture is not merely an environmental issue.

It is simultaneously:

  • Economic
  • Social
  • Nutritional
  • Ecological
  • Political
  • National-security related

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)

Climate-Smart Agriculture seeks to simultaneously pursue three broad objectives:

  1. Productivity

Increase sustainable agricultural productivity.

  1. Adaptation

Build resilience against climate change.

  1. Mitigation

Where possible, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Thus:

Climate-smart agriculture = Productivity + Adaptation + Mitigation

The broader climate-smart food-system approach also links agricultural resilience with sustainable soils, ecosystems and food security.

Government Initiatives Relevant to the Topic

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)

Focuses on making agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climate variability.

PMKSY

Promotes irrigation expansion and water-use efficiency.

National Mission on Natural Farming

Encourages farming practices aimed at reducing dependence on external chemical inputs and improving ecological sustainability.

National Food Security Mission (NFSM)

Supports production of crops including pulses, rice, wheat and nutri/coarse cereals.

PM Fasal Bima Yojana

Provides crop insurance against specified crop losses and risks.

Agroforestry

Promoted as a means of improving farm resilience, diversification and ecological benefits.

Major Challenges

  1. Small landholdings

Scaling new technologies is difficult.

  1. High initial costs

Micro-irrigation, machinery and resilient seeds may require investment.

  1. Lack of awareness

Farmers may not have access to climate advisories.

  1. Policy incentives

Existing incentives can sometimes encourage concentration on particular crops rather than agro-ecological suitability.

  1. Groundwater depletion

Climate change can worsen existing water-management problems.

  1. Fragmented institutions

Agriculture, water, environment, food and rural-development policies often operate separately.

Way Forward

India needs a whole-of-food-system approach:

Climate-resilient seeds
⬇️
Crop diversification
⬇️
Efficient irrigation
⬇️
Healthy soils
⬇️
Weather forecasting
⬇️
Insurance & credit
⬇️
Resilient storage & supply chains
⬇️

Climate-resilient food security

Restoring Lakes by Going Beyond Quick Fixes

Why in News?

The article highlights the decline of urban lakes and wetlands in Indian cities and argues that lake restoration cannot be limited to activities such as desilting, beautification or removing visible waste.

The central message is:

A lake is not merely a water body; it is part of a larger hydrological and ecological system.

Therefore, genuine restoration requires protection of the catchment, feeder channels, natural drainage and surrounding ecosystem, along with effective governance. The article particularly discusses cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, where peri-urban land and natural lake catchments have increasingly come under development pressure.

Why are Urban Lakes Important?

Urban lakes perform several ecosystem services.

  1. Water storage

They store rainwater and can contribute to groundwater recharge.

  1. Flood control

During intense rainfall, lakes act as natural buffers, temporarily storing excess water.

Therefore:

Heavy rainfall → Lake stores excess runoff → Reduced urban flooding

If lakes are encroached upon or their feeder channels are blocked:

Heavy rainfall → No storage capacity → Urban flooding

  1. Climate regulation

Urban lakes and wetlands can help moderate local temperatures and contribute to climate resilience.

  1. Biodiversity

They provide habitats for:

  • Birds
  • Fish
  • Amphibians
  • Aquatic plants
  • Invertebrates
  1. Carbon storage

Wetlands are important carbon stores and, per unit area, can store substantial amounts of carbon compared with many terrestrial ecosystems.

What is happening to India's urban lakes?

Rapid urbanisation has placed enormous pressure on lakes.

Major threats include:

  1. Encroachment

Lake beds and catchments are converted into:

  • Buildings
  • Roads
  • Commercial areas
  • Residential layouts
  1. Sewage pollution

Untreated sewage introduces nutrients and contaminants into lakes.

  1. Solid waste dumping

Plastic and other waste reduce water quality and obstruct drainage.

  1. Blocking of feeder channels

Natural streams that bring rainwater into lakes may be blocked or diverted.

  1. Excessive concretisation

Concrete surfaces increase surface runoff and reduce infiltration.

  1. Fragmented governance

Different agencies may control:

  • Land
  • Drainage
  • Water
  • Sewage
  • Urban planning
  • Environment

This creates a coordination problem.

Hyderabad: An Important Example

The article highlights the dramatic loss of lake area in Hyderabad.

Studies cited in current-affairs summaries indicate that Hyderabad lost approximately 61% of its lake area since 1979, while one study found that 268 water bodies disappeared during 2002–2012.

This illustrates a larger problem:

Urbanisation is transforming natural drainage systems into real estate.

Peri-urban areas that once functioned as agricultural land and natural lake catchments have increasingly become development zones.

Why “Quick Fixes” Don’t Work

A common approach to lake restoration is:

Desilting → Cleaning → Beautification → Fencing

These activities may improve the appearance of a lake temporarily.

But they do not necessarily restore its ecological functioning.

Example:

Suppose a lake is heavily polluted.

The government removes the accumulated silt.

But:

  • Sewage continues entering the lake
  • Feeder channels remain blocked
  • Catchment remains encroached
  • Rainwater cannot reach the lake naturally

Then the lake will gradually deteriorate again.

Therefore:

Restoration must address the causes of degradation, not merely its visible symptoms.

What is Ecological Restoration?

Ecological restoration means helping a degraded ecosystem recover its natural structure, functions and ecological processes.

For a lake, this means restoring:

Lake + Catchment + Feeder Channels + Drainage + Groundwater + Biodiversity

rather than treating the lake as an isolated water-filled depression.

Hydrological Restoration

What is hydrology?

Hydrology deals with the movement, distribution and properties of water.

A lake’s health depends on:

  • Where water comes from
  • How water enters
  • How much water enters
  • How water leaves
  • Groundwater interaction
  • Seasonal variation

Therefore, restoration should restore the natural flow of water.

Example: Nalla Cheruvu

The article provides an important example from Hyderabad.

Restoration of feeder channels and hydrological flows increased the water spread of Nalla Cheruvu from about 16 acres to 30 acres.

What does this demonstrate?

Instead of merely treating the lake itself:

Restore feeder channels

↓

Restore natural inflow

↓

Increase water availability

↓

Increase lake water spread

This is a classic example of ecosystem-based restoration.

Lake Restoration: Correct Approach

Step 1 – Identify the catchment

Determine the area from which rainwater naturally flows towards the lake.

Step 2 – Protect the catchment

Prevent:

  • Encroachment
  • Excessive construction
  • Illegal dumping

Step 3 – Restore feeder channels

Ensure natural streams can carry rainwater into the lake.

Step 4 – Stop sewage entry

Divert and treat sewage through appropriate STPs.

Step 5 – Restore wetlands

Wetland vegetation can help filter pollutants and provide habitat.

Step 6 – Maintain ecological flows

Ensure the lake receives sufficient water during appropriate seasons.

Step 7 – Community participation

Local communities should participate in:

  • Monitoring
  • Protection
  • Maintenance
  • Reporting encroachments

Lake as a “Living Ecosystem”

A lake should not be viewed simply as:

Water + land

Instead:

Lake = Water + Soil + Plants + Animals + Microorganisms + Catchment + Groundwater + Human communities

This is the ecosystem approach.

Why is this important for Indian cities?

Indian cities increasingly experience:

Urbanisation + Climate Change

This combination increases the risk of:

  • Flash floods
  • Urban flooding
  • Heat stress
  • Water scarcity
  • Biodiversity loss

Lakes can act as nature-based infrastructure.

Instead of relying only on:

Concrete drains + flood-control structures

cities can combine them with:

Wetlands + Lakes + Urban forests + Permeable surfaces + Natural drainage

Lakes and Urban Flooding

Healthy lake system:

Rainfall
↓
Catchment
↓
Feeder channels
↓
Lake
↓
Storage + infiltration
↓
Reduced flood peak

Degraded lake system:

Rainfall
↓
Blocked channels
↓
Encroachment
↓
Runoff accumulates
↓

Urban flooding

Therefore, lake conservation is also disaster-risk reduction.

 

Governance Challenge

Lake restoration often suffers from institutional fragmentation.

Different authorities may be responsible for:

  • Municipal administration
  • Land records
  • Water supply
  • Sewage treatment
  • Urban planning
  • Wetlands
  • Pollution control

Solution:

A basin/catchment-level integrated governance approach is required.

The lake should be managed according to its entire hydrological system, rather than according to administrative boundaries alone.

Legal & Policy Framework

Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017

These provide the regulatory framework for the conservation and management of notified wetlands.

Ramsar Convention

India is a party to the Convention on Wetlands, commonly known as the Ramsar Convention.

The convention promotes:

  • Conservation of wetlands
  • Wise use of wetlands
  • International cooperation

National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA)

The NPCA is an important government programme for conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems, including wetlands and lakes.

 

 

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