Chhattisgarh approves country’s third largest tiger reserve

News:

• With its tiger population plunging in recent years, Chhattisgarh cleared a long-pending proposal to notify a new tiger reserve – the third largest in the country.

Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve:

• It integrates an existing national park with a wildlife sanctuary.
• It is Chhattisgarh’s fourth reserve for the big cats.
• It spans 2,829 square kilometres across four northern districts of the state.
• The state cabinet merged the regions of the Guru Ghasidas National Park and the Tamor Pingla Sanctuary, located in the districts of Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Koriya, Surajpur and Balrampur, to create the new reserve.
• It will foster eco-tourism in the state and create employment opportunities for villagers residing in the core and buffer zones.
• National Project Tiger Authority will provide an extra budget for the reserve’s operations.

Importance:

• Guru Ghasidas National Park was the last known habitat of the Asiatic cheetah in the country.
• It connects Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh and provides a corridor for tigers to move between the Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Palamau Tiger Reserves (Jharkhand).

Issue:

• Guru Ghasidas National Park was made a tiger reserve in 2021, but it could not be notified due to opposition. Due to many mines in this area, the notification to declare the National Park as a tiger reserve was stuck.

Guru Ghasidas National Park:

• Named after the Satnami reformist hero of the place, Guru Ghasidas.
• Located in the Koriya district of Chhattisgarh.
• The park has undulating topography and it falls under the Tropical climate zone.
• Flora: Mixed deciduous forest with teak, sal and bamboo trees.
• Fauna: Tiger, Leopard, Chital, Nilgai, Chinkara, Jackal, Sambar, Four-horned Antelope etc.

Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Located in the Surajpur district of Chhattisgarh bordering Uttar Pradesh.
• Named after Tamor hill and Pingla Nalla and are considered to be the old and prominent features of the sanctuary area.
• Flora: Mixed deciduous forests dominate the sanctuary. Sal and bamboo forests are seen all through.
• Fauna: Tigers, Elephants, leopards, bears, sambar deer, blue bulls, chital, bison and many such animals are found here.

Tiger population:

• Chhattisgarh’s tiger population fell from 46 in 2014 to 17 in 2022, according to a National Tiger Conservation Authority report released in July 2023.
• Union Ministry of Environment statement: “Some states, including Mizoram, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh have reported disquieting trends with small tiger populations.”

Other tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh:

• Indravati in Bijapur district
• Udanti-Sitanadi in Gariaband and
• Achanakmar in Mungeli.

Largest tiger reserves:

• Andhra Pradesh’s Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve is the country’s largest tiger reserve covering 3296.31 sq km.
• Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam is the second largest with an area of 2837.1 sq km.
• Both have 58 tigers.

Centre may tweak Char Dham road project: Union Minister

News:

• The threat of landslides in Uttarakhand, particularly the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone, is making the government consider tweaks to some roads being built as part of the Char dham project.

Char Dham Highway Development Project of Uttarakhand:

• Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna is a project of central government to improve the existing condition of Highways in Uttarakhand.
• In this project, the government will upgrade and develop the road which connects all four ‘Dhams’ i.e Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
• The 12,000-crore dream project will turn 1100 km damaged highways of Uttarakhand into all season’s road.
• The project is divided into 7 packages which involve Tanakpur to Pithoragarh highway too.

Need of the project:

• Known as Devbhumi, Uttarakhand is famous for its noted temples and heavenly destinations.
• Chardham and Hemkund Sahib Yatra is the backbone for Uttarakhand tourism and its economy.
• Every year lakhs of pilgrims, adventure enthusiasts and other travelers visit Chota Char Dham, Hemkunt Sahib, Auli, Valley of flowers etc.
• Because of damaged roads, landslides and accidents, many people lost their life every year in Uttarakhand.
• This project will play the vital role in travel safety and the development of the state.
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Benefits:

• It will boost the economy and industries related to travel in Uttarakhand.
• Decrements in the numbers of road accidents.
• Two lane road, bridges and tunnels will decrease the overall time (30% to 40%) of travel and fuel cost.
• New signboards and security measures help drivers to drive more safely.
• It will develop the trust and security between pilgrims and travelers for a safe journey.
• New jobs help local folks to make them financially strong which will decrease the migration.
• It helps army in the security of Indian border along with China.

Concerns:

• Uttarakhand is always a hot discussion between environmentalists as it is the part of the Himalayas; the region is highly sensitive zone with fragile ecosystem, which faced several natural catastrophes in recent years.
• We can say that it is a straight destruction of Himalaya.
• The discerning of environment are blamed to the newly constructed dams, roads, hotels etc. directly.
• However, without drilling the mountains, progress of this project is impossible.
• Hills of Uttarakhand are not as stable as in Jammu & Kashmir or Himachal. Widening of roads can increase the rate of landslides, especially in monsoon season.
• Kedarnath disaster is the recent example of how instant rain can affect these mountains.
• Good road and infrastructure will boost the tourism sector which increases the number of travelers in untouched and virgin areas of Uttarakhand vice versa.
• It can spoil the real beauty of Himalayas and fill it with plastic bags and bottles.
• More number of vehicles and tourists in the area will increase the temperature of the region, which simultaneously increase the rate of melting of glaciers.
• This project attracts the investors from around the world to do business in local region, which increase the numbers of hotels, shops, local businesses etc. in the far flung areas.
• People will sell their farming land to them for business and instead of using traditional method like using their home grown food and resources. People will have to directly depend on markets.
• This also increase the waste and garbage in the region which directly pollute the rivers like Ganga and Yamuna.
• It also increase the population in the local region but basic facilities like hospitals, schools, connectivity, gas agencies are not available there.
• It can unbalance the ratio of forest resources v/s people which will directly affect the Ecosystem.
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Conclusion:

• The project raises some fundamental questions about the vision and the values that guide the development of the Himalayas. What kind of development do we want for the Himalayas? Who decides the development priorities and the trade-offs? How do we balance the needs and the aspirations of the present and the future generations? How do we respect and protect the diversity and the dignity of the Himalayan ecology and the people?

Centre will allow up to 35% bio-bitumen mixing: Gadkari

News:

• Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government would allow mixing of lignin up to 35% in petroleum-based bitumen, a large part of which is imported from other countries.
• 50% of the bitumen is imported.

Bitumen:

• It is a by-product of oil production and is used to bind the surfaces of paved roads.
• Bitumen is a very thick liquid form of crude oil.
• It does occur naturally, but the stuff used as a binder in asphalt is a by-product of oil refining.

Uses:

• It is known for its waterproofing and adhesive properties and is extensively used in road construction (asphalt paving) and waterproofing applications in buildings and marine structures.
• Bitumen is mixed with aggregates such as crushed rock, sand and gravel to create asphalt, the sticky bitumen binds it all together to build roads. 

Bio-bitumen: For the roads of the future

• Some researchers, concerned about its environmental impacts and future supply if petroleum refining slows down, have started to develop alternatives: bio-bitumen.
• Bio-bitumen is a sustainable alternative to traditional asphalt.
• It’s made from waste materials and other natural products, and it’s designed to lower the carbon footprint of road construction.
• There are many benefits to using bio-bitumen over traditional fossil-based bitumen.

Bio-bitumen: An alternative to fossil-based bitumen

• Bio-bitumen is a petroleum-free alternative to bitumen, or asphalt.
• It is made using non-petroleum-based renewable resources and can be made from vegetable oils, synthetic polymers, or both, making it a more sustainable model long term.
• The use of non-petroleum alternatives has increased due to concerns about peak oil pollution, and climate change.

Production:

• Bio-bitumen is a type of asphalt mixture that is made with lignins from various waste streams.
• Lignins are polymeric biopolymers that can be found in the cell walls of plants.
• They provide structure to the plant and help it grow.
• When these lignins are blended with other polymers, such as bitumen and sulfur, they form a binding agent that can be used in asphalt.
• This is called bio-asphalt or bio-bitumen, and it has many benefits over conventional asphalt.
• Bio-bitumen is created from waste by heating waste mixtures at around 500°C without oxygen.
• In the production of biofuels, this process is called pyrolysis, which is the same as making charcoal and biochar.

Benefits:

• Bio-bitumen has many benefits compared to traditional asphalt.
• It doesn’t use any petroleum products in its production, so it’s more environmentally friendly than traditional asphalt.
• It also doesn’t contain any toxic chemicals, so it’s safer for workers and the environment.
• It also possible that bio-bitumen could be made from broken-down organic parts of household waste, such as food waste, plastic, paper and textiles, that can form a liquid with similar properties to the bio-bitumen made now.

Heat islands:

• A heat island is a phenomenon that describes urban and suburban temperatures that are 1 to 6 °C hotter than nearby rural areas.
• The elevated temperatures have negative impacts on communities, including increasing peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution levels, and heat-related illness and mortality.
• Bio-bitumen helps to reduce the harmful long-term effects of heat islands that asphalt causes by absorbing more solar radiation than asphalt, which cools down the ground surface and reduces the amount of solar energy absorbed by buildings.

Other innovative and environmental friendly methods of road construction:

• Steel slag road technology: It is a novel method of using steel slag, the waste generated during steel production, to build more robust and more durable roads.
• Steel Slag Road technology was first used in Surat.
• In Germany, companies developed 100% recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) to meet reduce costs, save energy, and lower carbon emissions.
• India has built more than 2,500 km of plastic roads and globally too, plastic roads are proliferating in more countries.
• It is mandatory to make use of at least 10% of plastic waste for road construction in Ladakh.

Pyrocumulonimbus cloud: when wildfires spit storms, lightning

News:

• The development of Pyrocumulonimbus clouds has become more frequent in recent years.

Context:

• The wildfires currently raging in the United States and Canada are so intense that they have created ‘pyrocumulonimbus’ clouds, which have the potential to spit out thunder and spark more fires.
• The development of these clouds has become more frequent in recent years.
• Before 2023, 102 pyrocumulonimbus were recorded globally in a single year on average, 50 of them were seen in Canada, according to a report published in the journal Nature.
• However, during last year’s extreme wildfire season, 140 pyrocumulonimbus clouds were recorded in Canada alone, the report said.

Formation:

• Not every wildfire leads to the creation of pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
• They occur only when there is an extremely hot wildfire.
• Volcanic eruptions can also lead to the formation of pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
• For instance, these clouds were formed during the Australian bushfires of 2019-2020 when temperatures crossed 800 degrees Celsius.
• The intense heat from the fire warms the surrounding air which moves upward into the atmosphere.
• As this hot and very buoyant air carrying water vapour, smoke, and ash rises, it expands and cools down.
• Once it is cool enough, water vapour condenses on ash, forming a grey or brown cloud.
• At this stage, the cloud is known as a pyrocumulus cloud, also known as ‘fire cloud’.
• But if there is sufficient water vapour available and the upward movement of hot air intensifies, pyrocumulus clouds can evolve into a pyrocumulonimbus cloud.
• These clouds can reach heights of 50,000 feet and generate their own systems of thunderstorms.
• Although pyrocumulonimbus clouds can produce lighting, they do not generate much rain.
• As a result, they can spark new wildfires many kilometres away from the main blaze.
• These clouds can also trigger strong winds that can make the spread of the wildfire faster and unpredictable.

Reasons for frequent formation:

• The exact reason remains unclear as unlike in the case of other extreme weather events, the study of these clouds is relatively new.
• However, scientists believe that climate change could have a role to play in the increase of their frequency.
• Studies have shown that with temperatures soaring across the world, wildfires are becoming more common and intense. This could be spiking the occurrence of pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
• In a general sense, if you have more fires, you’ll have more pyroCbs (pyrocumulonimbus) because there are more opportunities to have them sink up, but it depends on atmospheric conditions, too… An intense wildfire definitely increases the odds.

Other facts:

• These clouds are formed similarly to cumulonimbus clouds, but the intense heat that results in the vigorous updraft comes from fire, either large wildfires or volcanic eruptions. So it is, for this reason, the prefix ‘pyro’ is used – meaning fire in Greek.
• The more technical name for pyrocumulus clouds formed over wildfires or volcanoes would be Cumulus flammagenitus and, when they develop enough to produce precipitation and lightning, Cumulonimbus flammagenitus (which people sometimes describe as pyrocumulonimbus).
• They have also been known to dangerously generate fire tornadoes.
• As climate changes, these unusual but significant storms could occur more frequently due to hotter and drier conditions increasing the risk of wildfires.

Cumulonimbus clouds:

• Cumulonimbus clouds are menacing looking multi-level clouds, extending high into the sky in towers or plumes.
• More commonly known as thunderclouds, cumulonimbus is the only cloud type that can produce hail, thunder and lightning. 

Formation:

• Cumulonimbus clouds are born through convection, often growing from small cumulus clouds over a hot surface.

Weather associated with cumulonimbus clouds:

• Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with extreme weather such as heavy torrential downpours, hail storms, lightning and even tornadoes.
• If there is thunder, lightning or hail, the cloud is a cumulonimbus, rather than nimbostratus.