Environment, Disasters & Internal Security of Maharashtra — MPSC GS Paper III
Weightage: GS Paper III asks conservation and environmental degradation, disaster management and resilience, and internal security "with some weightage to Maharashtra". The national frameworks come from the UPSC CSE chapters aliased into this hub. This chapter supplies the Maharashtra events, places and institutions that make an answer specific.
1. The Western Ghats
The Sahyadri is part of the Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot and a World Heritage property since 2012. Its forests feed the rivers of the Deccan and the Konkan, so their loss is a water question as well as a biodiversity question.
Two reports frame the debate:
| Report | Year | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Gadgil Committee (Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel) | 2011 | Treat the whole Ghats as ecologically sensitive, graded into three zones, with strong local participation |
| Kasturirangan Committee (High-Level Working Group) | 2013 | Notify about 37 per cent of the Ghats, the natural landscape, as an Ecologically Sensitive Area, with bans on mining, quarrying and large polluting industry |
Draft notifications under the Kasturirangan approach have been issued several times, covering more than 2,000 villages in Maharashtra, but final notification has been delayed by objections from states and residents. The debate balances livelihoods and development against landslides, water security and biodiversity.
2. The coast, pollution and wildlife
Mangroves line the creeks of the Konkan and Mumbai, where they buffer floods and storm surges and nurture fisheries. Maharashtra set up a Mangrove Cell in its forest department in 2012, and the Bombay High Court (2018) ordered protection of mangroves across the state. The Thane Creek, with its flamingos, is a Ramsar site.
Pollution. Air quality in Mumbai and other cities worsens in winter with construction dust and traffic. Rivers such as the Mithi in Mumbai, the Mula-Mutha in Pune and the Godavari at Nashik carry untreated sewage.
Maharashtra banned many single-use plastic and thermocol products in 2018, among the earliest broad state bans.
Wildlife. Tiger numbers have grown in Vidarbha, and so has human-tiger conflict around Tadoba and Chandrapur. The Great Indian Bustard, once seen in the grasslands of Solapur and Ahilyanagar, has almost vanished from the state, a warning about the neglect of grassland ecosystems.
3. Earthquakes
| Event | Date | Lesson |
|---|---|---|
| Koyna earthquake | 11 December 1967 | A damaging quake near the Koyna reservoir, the classic Indian case of reservoir-induced seismicity |
| Latur (Killari) earthquake | 30 September 1993 | About 10,000 deaths in an area thought to be stable; an intraplate quake in the Deccan, where weak stone houses collapsed |
Latur changed disaster policy. Its reconstruction, with World Bank support, used safer building methods and community participation, and it pushed India towards a planned disaster-management system rather than relief alone.
4. Floods, landslides and cyclones
The Mumbai floods of 26 July 2005 followed about 944 mm of rain in 24 hours at Santacruz. They killed hundreds of people across the state and stopped the city for days.
The Chitale Committee that examined them pointed to encroached and silted drains, the loss of the Mithi river's floodplain and mangroves, and the unfinished storm-water drainage upgrade planned since the 1990s.
Kolhapur and Sangli were flooded by the Krishna and Panchganga in August 2019 and again in 2021. The debate covered heavy rain, river encroachment and the backwater effect of dams downstream.
Landslides on the Sahyadri slopes have buried whole villages:
| Landslide | District | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Malin | Pune | 30 July 2014 |
| Taliye | Raigad | 22 July 2021 |
| Irshalwadi | Raigad | 19 July 2023 |
Common causes are extreme rain on steep, deforested slopes, changes in land use and cutting for roads. Mapping of vulnerable villages and early relocation are the answers.
Cyclones. Cyclone Nisarga made landfall near Alibag on 3 June 2020, a rare severe cyclone on the Maharashtra coast. Cyclone Tauktae (May 2021) moved along the coast and caused a barge disaster off Mumbai. Warmer Arabian Sea waters are making such storms more frequent.
Drought and heat. Drought in the rain-shadow belt is recurrent. In 2016, Latur received drinking water by train. Heatwaves in Vidarbha and hailstorms in Marathwada add to farm losses.
5. The disaster-management system
- The Disaster Management Act, 2005 created the national, state and district authorities.
- The Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority is chaired by the Chief Minister, and every district has a District Disaster Management Authority under the Collector.
- Response forces: the National Disaster Response Force's battalion at Pune and the state's own response force.
- Crowd management: the Ashadhi wari and the Simhastha Kumbh Mela at Nashik-Trimbakeshwar, scheduled for 2027, need planning for very large crowds.
Worked example 5.1 (a 15-mark answer, ~250 words). "What lessons do the 2005 Mumbai floods and the Sahyadri landslides hold for disaster risk reduction in Maharashtra?"
Model answer. The two disasters show that hazards become disasters through exposure and vulnerability built by human choices.
Mumbai, 26 July 2005. About 944 mm of rain fell in a day at Santacruz, but the scale of loss came from encroached and silted drains, the lost floodplain of the Mithi river and destroyed mangroves. The Chitale Committee's lessons were to widen and clear drains, restore the Mithi, protect mangroves and complete the storm-water upgrade. Warning systems and flood gauges were improved.
Landslides at Malin (2014), Taliye (2021) and Irshalwadi (2023). Extreme rain fell on steep slopes weakened by deforestation, land-use change and road cutting, and villages sat directly below them.
The lessons:
- Map risk: identify landslide-prone villages and flood-prone urban wards.
- Plan land use: keep drains, floodplains and mangroves free, and restrict building on unstable slopes.
- Warn and move early: link rainfall thresholds to evacuation orders.
- Relocate with consent: rehouse at-risk villages with livelihoods, not only houses.
- Build local capacity: train village and ward teams and practise drills.
The shift needed is from relief after the event to risk reduction before it, as the Sendai Framework and the 2005 Act intend.
6. Internal security
Left-wing extremism. Maharashtra's affected areas are in eastern Vidarbha, above all Gadchiroli, with parts of Gondia. The state police raised the C-60 commando force in 1992 for jungle operations.
The strategy combines security operations with development: roads, mobile towers, schools and jobs. Surrenders under the state's policy have increased, and the Union government set a deadline of March 2026 for ending Left-wing extremism. Mining in Gadchiroli is a test of whether development can respect forest rights and Gram Sabha consent.
Terrorism and the lessons of 26/11. Mumbai has suffered the serial blasts of 12 March 1993 and the 26 November 2008 attacks, in which ten terrorists who came by sea killed 166 people. After 26/11:
- Maharashtra raised Force One (2009), an elite counter-terrorism unit.
- The NSG set up a hub in Mumbai.
- Coastal security was rebuilt with coastal police stations, marine patrols and regular Sagar Kavach exercises with the Navy and Coast Guard.
- At the national level, the NIA was created (2008).
Organised crime. The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999 gave police special powers against organised gangs, including rules on the admissibility of confessions and on interception. It became a model for other states.
Cyber crime has grown with digital payments. The state has a nodal cyber agency and cyber police stations, and financial fraud and misinformation are now among the most common complaints.
Worked example 6.1 (a 10-mark answer, ~150 words). "Evaluate Maharashtra's approach to Left-wing extremism in Gadchiroli."
Model answer. Maharashtra has combined force with development.
Security: the C-60 force, raised in 1992 from local recruits who know the terrain, has led operations, and central forces support it.
Development: roads, bridges, mobile towers, schools and health camps have reached remote villages, and a surrender and rehabilitation policy offers a way out to cadres.
Rights: community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act, as in Mendha-Lekha, have given villagers control over forest produce and a stake in the state.
The results show in rising surrenders and falling violence. The risks lie in large-scale mining, which can alienate Adivasi communities if Gram Sabha consent and fair benefit-sharing are ignored. Lasting peace depends on development that villagers own.
Common traps MPSC sets here
- Treating the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports as the same. Gadgil (2011) covered the whole Ghats in graded zones; Kasturirangan (2013) proposed about 37 per cent as an ESA.
- Calling the Latur earthquake a plate-boundary event. It was an intraplate quake in the stable Deccan.
- Dating the Mumbai floods to 2006. They were on 26 July 2005.
- Mixing up the landslides. Malin was in Pune district (2014); Taliye (2021) and Irshalwadi (2023) were in Raigad.
- Describing MCOCA as a central law. It is a Maharashtra law of 1999.
Memory aids
- "67 Koyna, 93 Latur, 05 Mumbai": earthquakes and the great flood.
- "Malin 14, Taliye 21, Irshalwadi 23": the landslides.
- "C-60 in 92, Force One in 09": the state's special forces.
- "Map, plan, warn, move, train": the five lessons of risk reduction.
Summary
Maharashtra's environment hinges on the Western Ghats, where the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports frame the debate over protection, and on its coast and mangroves. Pollution, the plastic ban, human-tiger conflict and the loss of the Great Indian Bustard complete the picture.
The state has faced reservoir-induced and intraplate earthquakes at Koyna and Latur, the 2005 Mumbai floods, deadly landslides, cyclones and drought, and has built a disaster-management system under the 2005 Act. Its security challenges are Left-wing extremism in Gadchiroli, terrorism in Mumbai, coastal security after 26/11, organised crime and cyber crime.
Exam protocol
- Name the place and date of every disaster you cite.
- Frame disaster answers as hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk reduction.
- Balance security and development, and rights and resources, in answers on extremism.
