Down To Earth (16-30 November, 2025)

Context

• Cloudburst-like downpours are now striking India’s plains with alarming frequency, redefining the country’s understanding of monsoon extremes, once confined to the mountains.

Cloudbursts Beyond the Hills

• Traditionally, cloudbursts—defined as rainfall exceeding 100 mm per hour over 20–30 sq km — are phenomena of hilly terrains, where orographic lift pushes moist air upwards, triggering intense convection.
• Every 1°C rise in global temperature, the atmosphere holds 7% more water vapour.
• Despite decades of research, climate models remain too coarse to forecast such hyperlocal phenomena.
• They can simulate trends over large regions but fail to capture specific convective patterns responsible for these cloudbursts in the plains.

Early Signs of a Global Shift

• Even with gaps in data and limitations in modeling, two clear trends are emerging:
• Climate impacts are appearing in unpredicted regions—from India’s coastal plains to its rain-shadow interiors.
• These disruptions are arriving sooner than most forecasts anticipated.
• The ‘Global Tipping Points 2025’ report, produced by 160 scientists from 23 countries, declared that the Earth has crossed its first major climate tipping point—the mass die-off of warm-water coral reefs.
• Tipping points are thresholds beyond which human-induced warming triggers irreversible planetary changes. Earlier projections placed them between the 2030s and 2100, depending on emissions scenarios. But as this report indicates, the timeline has accelerated.

Why are the models struggling?

• Many climate models used by the IPCC and others are coarse in spatial resolution, and are designed to identify broad regional trends—not specific extreme events in small areas (such as a cloudburst in a plain).
• Feedback loops (e.g., rapid Arctic/Antarctic ice melt, weakening of the AMOC, strange jet-stream behaviour) appear to be activating earlier or faster than expected.
• The modelling community is thus increasingly calling for a next generation of models: greater spatial and temporal resolution, better coupling with observation systems (including palaeoclimate records), and real-time data assimilation of emerging extremes into projections.

Looking Ahead: What does it means in practice?

• More frequent and intense extremes: Each additional 0.1 °C of global warming tends to produce a disproportionately greater rise in disasters linked to extreme weather.
• The faster the planet warms, the earlier and stronger the disruptions: altered precipitation patterns, shifting monsoon behaviour, sea-level rise, retreating glaciers, stronger cyclones.
• Some changes once projected for decades ahead may already be underway.
• Risks of tipping points and cascading failures: The ‘Global Tipping Points 2025’ report warns that we may already have passed the first ‘tipping point’ (warm-water coral reef die-off).
• Current models may not capture all these cascading feedbacks, which means our risk assessments may under-estimate the real-world danger.

Implications for India’s Policy & Planning

• India must accelerate climate adaptation: anticipating not just gradual shifts but sudden, extreme, small-scale events (e.g., cloudbursts, flash floods, short-duration heavy rainfall), especially in regions previously considered ‘safe’.
• Urban planning, infrastructure, drainage, early warning systems, land-use regulation must all factor in this elevated risk profile.
• The monsoon is changing its character: growing variability, increasing extremes, shifting spatial patterns (for example, excess rain in Rajasthan but deficits in northeast India).
• The modelling and forecasting community in India needs to invest in higher-resolution local data and models (including sub-daily rainfall extremes) to support early warning and adaptation.

Context

• Recently, ICAR has announced the development of two gene-edited (GE) rice varieties — Pusa DST-1 and DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) — marked as high-yielding, climate-resilient, and salt-tolerant.

Controversy: Gene-Edited Rice Underperforms

• An analysis of ICAR’s own trial data revealed that:
• No significant increase in yield was observed compared to the parental varieties.
• The varieties did not mature earlier, contradicting official claims.
• ICAR allegedly flouted crop testing norms, bypassing standard protocols and ignoring red flags in the data.

Data Discrepancies and Ethical Concerns

• ICAR’s internal data showed inconsistencies that should have prompted further trials or revisions. Instead, the varieties were fast-tracked for release, raising concerns about:
• Scientific transparency: The lack of peer-reviewed publication and open data access undermines public trust.
• Regulatory bypass: ICAR sidestepped established crop testing procedures, possibly to avoid public resistance to gene technologies.
• Institutional accountability: The response from ICAR has been described as evasive, reflecting poorly on the ethics of India’s top agricultural research body.

Implications for Farmers and Food Systems

• Farmers may adopt crops that don’t deliver promised benefits, leading to economic losses.
• It could erode trust in future gene-edited crops, stalling innovation in agricultural biotechnology.
• The controversy may fuel public skepticism toward genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and gene-editing technologies in India’s food systems.

Context

• Human activities have dramatically accelerated subsidence rates in many rapidly urbanising regions, particularly in the Global South, while natural processes drive slow, long-term settling of the Earth’s surface.

What Causes Land Subsidence?

• Natural Drivers:
• Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA): Land continues to settle thousands of years after the retreat of massive ice sheets.
• Natural Consolidation of Sediments: Recently deposited or soft sediments naturally compact over time, especially in river deltas and coastal plains.
• Tectonic Activity: Fault movements, crustal adjustments, and long-term geological settling contribute to slow, persistent vertical land motion.
• Anthropogenic Drivers: Although natural processes occur at millimetres per year, human-driven processes can increase subsidence to several centimetres annually. Major human causes include:
• Excessive Groundwater Extraction: When aquifers are over-pumped, clay layers compress like squeezed sponges, causing surface-level sinking.
• Oil and Gas Extraction: Removal of underground hydrocarbons destabilises subsurface pressure.
• Mining Activity: Underground voids created by mining operations trigger localised collapses or widespread settling.

Why Global South Cities Are Especially Vulnerable?

• Cities across the Global South heavily rely on groundwater as their primary or fallback water source due to unreliable surface water, rapid urban growth, insufficient water infrastructure, and high dependence on private borewells.

Subsidence Threat in India’s Megacities

• A 2023 study published in Nature Sustainability highlights alarming levels of land subsidence across India’s five major metropolitan areas — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru — collectively affecting 878 sq km of urban land, 13 million buildings, and ~80 million residents
• Maximum Annual Subsidence Rates: Delhi: 51 mm/year; Chennai: 31.7 mm/year; Mumbai: 26.1 mm/year; Kolkata: 16.4 mm/year; Bengaluru: 6.7 mm/year;
• City-wise Drivers and Hotspots:
• Delhi:
• Primary driver: compaction of alluvial deposits due to extreme groundwater extraction.
• Hotspots: Bijwasan, Faridabad, Ghaziabad (up to 38.2 mm/year).
• Some areas like Dwarka are uplifting (15.1 mm/year) due to successful aquifer recharge and rainwater harvesting policies implemented between 2005–2015.
• Chennai:
• Fastest sinking around the Adyar River floodplains and central districts including Valasaravakkam, Kodambakkam, Alandur, Tondiarpet.
• Drivers: compaction of Holocene alluvium + groundwater extraction.
• Chennai shows the highest future structural damage exposure compared with other cities.
• Mumbai:
• Subsidence is low in most areas except dense, economically weaker regions like Dharavi.
• Urban load from vertical development adds to subsidence pressures.
• Kolkata:
• Caused by the settlement of Pleistocene and Holocene sediments in the Ganga delta.
• Long-term groundwater dependence continues to trigger compaction.
• Bengaluru:
• Minimal subsidence due to stable igneous and metamorphic bedrock (gneiss, granodiorite, granite).
• Subsidence risk increased in late 2022 due to a surge in groundwater extraction during drought-like conditions.

Strategies to Prevent or Slow Subsidence

• Early Monitoring and Data Systems:
• Groundwater monitoring networks using in-situ sensors.
• Satellite-based deformation tracking (e.g., InSAR) to detect early warning signs of aquifer stress.
• Regulation and Governance:
• Sustainable yield thresholds and borewell permitting systems.
• Phased regulation rather than blanket bans — particularly important where communities have no alternative water supply.
• Public awareness campaigns on sustainable groundwater use.
• Diversified Urban Water Portfolios:
• Surface water augmentation
• Wastewater recycling
• Rainwater harvesting
• Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) — recharge basins, rooftop-to-recharge systems, and revival of tanks and wetlands.
• Risk-Sensitive Urban Planning:
• Incorporating subsidence risk maps into building codes and zoning plans.
• Designing infrastructure with expected long-term settlement in mind.

Road Ahead: Sustainable Groundwater Management

• For India’s megacities — and others across the Global South — the path forward requires:
• Proactive monitoring rather than crisis response;
• Adaptive groundwater governance that accounts for equity;
• Urban design that treats water as a foundational element, not an afterthought;
• Community-led recharge and conservation initiatives;
• Sustainable groundwater use is not only essential for water security but for safeguarding the geological stability of the cities themselves.

Context

• The ethnomedicinal practices of the Sumi Nagas are a living knowledge system transferred orally through generations. Unless protected through legal frameworks, the knowledge may be lost and faces risk of biopiracy.

About the Ancient Wisdom in the Hills of Nagaland

• In the misty hills of Zunheboto district, Nagaland, the Sumi Nagas have preserved a vibrant tradition of healing through plants and rituals.
• These ethnomedicinal practices are orally transmitted, forming a living knowledge system that blends biodiversity with cultural identity.

Living Knowledge System of the Sumi Nagas

• Oral Transmission and Practice: The Sumi Nagas do not rely on formal pharmacopoeias.
• Instead, their ethnomedicinal knowledge is embedded in narratives, songs, the expertise of tribal healers—bonesetters, midwives, elders—and passed verbally from one generation to the next.

Threats to Traditional Knowledge

• Biopiracy: Without legal safeguards, pharmaceutical companies may exploit indigenous knowledge without compensation or recognition.
• Loss of biodiversity: Deforestation and climate change are endangering the very plants that sustain these cures.
• Cultural erosion: Younger generations are drifting away from traditional practices, risking the loss of centuries-old wisdom.

Need for Community-Centred Legal Frameworks

• Recognition of collective ownership: Traditional knowledge is often not the creation of an individual inventor but the result of communal practice and oral transmission.
• Legal frameworks must allow for collective rights rather than individual patents.
• Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC): Communities must have the right to decide if, how and on what terms their knowledge may be used.
• Benefit-sharing mechanisms: When medicinal plants or knowledge lead to commercial products, communities should share in the rewards, not be excluded.
• Customary law alignment: The frameworks should respect local customary laws and knowledge practices.
• Sui generis protection: A tailored legal regime (rather than forcing traditional knowledge into classic patent systems) may be appropriate—one that recognises the intergenerational, evolving, communal character of the knowledge.
• Documentation and databases (with control): While oral transmission is central, strategic documentation (with community control) can help protect the knowledge from misappropriation and serve as evidence of prior use (prior art) to prevent wrongful patents.
• Acts like the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and the Forest Rights Act 2006 provide some rights, but they are inadequate to protect orally transmitted, communal knowledge.

Context

• Recently, the Chhattisgarh High Court ordered upholding mining operations in the Hasdeo Arand forest—despite community challenges.

Background: Ghatbarra Community Forest Rights Case

• FRA Recognition and Later Revocation: In 2013, Ghatbarra village in Surguja district received Community Forest Rights (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act, allowing access to 810 ha of forestland for fuelwood, minor forest produce, and grazing.
• In 2016, the District Level Committee (DLC) revoked these rights, claiming they were granted ‘in error.’
• High Court’s Ruling: The court agreed that a DLC has no authority to cancel CFR titles.
• Despite this, it dismissed the petition on technical grounds—stating villagers could not prove residence or eligibility—effectively undermining their recognized rights.

Mining, Approvals, and Procedural Violations

• Mining Interests in Hasdeo Arand: Hasdeo Arand—one of India’s largest contiguous forest blocks—contains the Parsa East–Kanta Basan (PEKB) coal block, allotted to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RVUNL), where Adani Enterprises holds the majority stake.
• Questionable Clearances: The Forest Advisory Committee initially rejected diversion proposals in 2011 due to non-compliance with FRA.
• In-principle approval was later granted conditionally, requiring settlement of forest rights.
• Final forest clearance followed, though Gram Sabha consent—mandatory under FRA and PESA—was never obtained.

Community Opposition and Legal Battles

• Resistance on the Ground: Between 2012–2013, multiple Gram Sabhas and Van Adhikar Samitis passed resolutions demanding a halt to mining activities, citing violations of:
• Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006
• Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996;
• NGT and Supreme Court Interventions: The National Green Tribunal (2014) suspended mining after finding illegalities in forest diversion.
• The Supreme Court later allowed continuation of Phase-1 mining while litigation continued.
• Meanwhile, the Union government advanced permissions for Phase-2 mining, which began in 2022, despite active disputes over rights and consent.

Concerns Over the Court’s Reasoning

• Undermining of CFR and Gram Sabha Powers: If CFR titles existed, forest clearance should be deemed illegal without community consent.
• The judgment allows authorities to disregard the FRA and reduces Gram Sabha consent to a formality.
• Fifth Schedule and PESA Violations: Hasdeo Arand lies in a Fifth Schedule Area, where PESA empowers Gram Sabhas to decide whether mining may occur.
• The Supreme Court’s Niyamgiri judgment (2013) reaffirmed this power
• Ecological Concerns: Hasdeo Arand is rich in biodiversity and hosts critical catchments for major rivers. These include:
• destruction of elephant corridors;
• fragmentation of dense forest;
• long-term hydrological damage;
• loss of indigenous livelihoods;

Context

• For over 15 years, a cluster of villages in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh have hosted an unlikely seasonal guest—the painted stork (Mycteria Leucocephala).

About Painted Stork (Mycteria Leucocephala)

• They are large birds native to South and Southeast Asia.
• They inhabit freshwater wetlands, marshes, lakes, and riverbanks, often nesting in large colonies near water bodies.

Threats

• Wetland degradation and encroachment;
• Pollution and reduced fish availability;
• Disturbance during breeding seasons;

Conservation Status

• Near Threatened (IUCN Red List)

Context

• Recently, Cyclone Montha made landfall on the east-coast of India between Machilipatnam and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

About Cyclone Montha

• Cyclone Montha was classified as a Severe Cyclonic Storm by IMD, bringing torrential rains, storm surges, and high winds that battered coastal and inland regions.

What Is a Cyclone?

• A cyclone is a large-scale air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the rotation is anticlockwise, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s clockwise.
• Cyclones are classified into:
• Tropical Cyclones: Form over warm ocean waters and are typically more intense.
• Extra-Tropical Cyclones: Occur in temperate zones and are driven by temperature gradients.
• The term ‘cyclone’ was coined by Henry Piddington, meaning ‘coiled snake’, to describe the swirling nature of storms in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

Key Challenges & Gaps Identified

• Damage to housing, especially in informal or vulnerable settlements, is under-assessed.
• Livelihoods (especially farming) get hit hard by standing-crop losses and delays in compensation.
• Infrastructure (roads, power, irrigation) damage hampers relief and recovery.
• Post-disaster enumeration and assistance often lag behind actual ground conditions.

Context

• Recently, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica with maximum sustained winds of 298 kmph, ranking it among the strongest storms ever recorded in the North Atlantic, affecting Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

About Hurricane

• A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone characterized by strong winds (≥119 km/h), heavy rainfall, and storm surges.
• They form over warm ocean waters and are classified into categories based on wind speed, with Category 5 being the most severe.

Climate Change and Intensification

• Warmer oceans provide more energy for storm formation.
• Increased atmospheric moisture leads to heavier rainfall.
• Rising sea levels exacerbate storm surges and coastal flooding.

Context

• Recently, a team of researchers, published in Nature, has developed a promising broad-spectrum anti-venom that uses nanobodies — tiny, highly stable antibodies derived from camelids.

How the Study Was Conducted?

• Testing Venom From 18 African Snake Species: Scientists injected venom from 18 African snakes, including some of the most dangerous species such as the black mamba and cape cobra, into mice and camelids.
• They identified eight nanobodies that effectively neutralized key toxins found in these snake venoms.
• Nanobodies’ small size allows them to penetrate deep tissues and cross the blood–brain barrier, giving them a therapeutic advantage over traditional antivenoms.

Why Does This Matters?

• Snakebite, A Neglected Public Health Crisis: Africa records 7,000 deaths and 10,000 amputations annually due to snakebites.
• India has the highest global burden, with 58,000 annual deaths, as noted in a report presented at the 78th World Health Assembly (2025).
• Snakebite envenoming is considered a ‘neglected tropical disease’, disproportionately affecting rural and low-income communities where access to effective treatment is limited.
• Limited Current Anti-Venoms: Existing antivenoms are often species-specific, require cold-chain storage, and are expensive and not always available where needed.
• A broad-spectrum, stable nanobody-based solution could dramatically improve access, affordability, and survival rates.

Context

• Canada has recorded over 5,000 measles cases since October 2024, triggering the loss of its elimination status, as it had achieved measles-free status in 1998 (with formal verification in 2000).

Why did it happen?

• Low vaccine coverage: Canada’s two-dose measles vaccine uptake fell below the ~95% level needed for herd immunity.
• Vulnerable groups: Much of the transmission has been among under-vaccinated or unvaccinated populations.

Broader Resurgence: Other Diseases

• Whooping Cough (Pertussis): Pertussis (also known as whooping cough) is making a comeback globally:
• Outbreaks of pertussis are being reported around the world; immunity from vaccines wanes, and vaccine uptake/boosters are sub-optimal.
• One recent review describes pertussis resurgence driven by waning immunity, vaccine changes, and bacterial adaptation.
• Diphtheria: A study covering 2023-2024 shows large outbreaks among children <15 years old in several African countries with low vaccination coverage.
• Many African countries face high numbers of zero-dose (unvaccinated) children, leading to outbreaks of diphtheria, meningitis, measles and more.

Root Causes & What Needs to Be Done

• Declines in routine immunisation;
• Waning immunity;
• Vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and weak public health outreach;
• Weak surveillance and health-system gaps;

Key Actions

• Reinforce routine immunisation programs;
• Increase coverage of full two (or more) dose series and maintain the high thresholds (~95%) needed for herd protection.
• Strengthen booster programmes where immunity wanes (e.g., pertussis).
• Improve surveillance: Fast detection and response to outbreaks, tracking of vaccination status.
• Tackle vaccine hesitancy: Clear public communication, trust-building, addressing misinformation.
• Global solidarity: Strengthening immunisation in lower-income countries to reduce global risk—because diseases don’t respect borders.

Context

• Recently, Maldives became the first country in the world to enact a generational ban on tobacco use.

About

• Anyone born on or after 1 January 2007 is prohibited from buying, using or being sold tobacco products—including residents and visitors alike.
• It covers all forms of tobacco: cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, etc and extends to electronic cigarettes and vaping devices for all age-groups.

Penalties for Violations

• Retailers caught selling tobacco to someone born on or after 1 January 2007 face a fine of 50,000 Maldivian Rufiyaa (≈ ₹2.9 lakh).
• Individuals found using a vaping device may be fined 5,000 Rufiyaa (≈ ₹29,000).
• Age-verification (ID checks) is required before tobacco sales to ensure compliance.

Rationale

• The Maldives’ move aligns with global public health frameworks, such as the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
• Previously, other countries (e.g., New Zealand) had proposed generational bans but did not succeed in implementing them.

Context

• Recently, Kenya has cancelled its first 1,050 MW coal-fired power plant in Lamu County.

About

• The coastal region of Lamu, in Kenya, is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site, a centuries-old Swahili settlement known for its architecture, culture and marine ecosystems.
• In 2013, Kenya announced plans for a 1,050 MW coal-fired power plant near Lamu in a joint venture with local and Chinese firms.
• The proposed plant would have used imported coal (from South Africa and Zimbabwe) and later locally mined coal (from the Mui Basin in Kitui County).
• The court acknowledged these risks and ruled that the environmental impact assessment was inadequate and failed to consult affected stakeholders meaningfully.

Context

• For the first time on record, mosquitoes have been detected in Iceland — a country long regarded as one of the last mosquito­-free places on Earth (the other being Antarctica)

About

• Previously, Iceland’s cold climate and lack of suitable standing water environments made sustained mosquito populations extremely unlikely.
• Now, the detection of a cold-tolerant species suggests that conditions may be shifting.
• Studies have shown that mosquitoes are expanding their geographic range as warmer temperatures, longer seasons and milder winters create new potential habitats.

Science Behind It

• Cold Tolerance & Species: Culiseta annulata is known in northern Europe and parts of Asia for its ability to overwinter as an adult.
• That means one of the key barriers for mosquito survival in Iceland — the long, cold winter — is less of a guaranteed shut-out if the species can find sheltered indoor or subterranean sites.
• Researchers point to barns, basements or other micro-habitats as possible refuges.
• Climate Shift & Habitat Change: Temperature is one of the major drivers for mosquito activity: warmer weather speeds up development, increases feeding frequency and lengthens the active season.
• The Arctic and near-Arctic regions, including Iceland, are warming faster than many other parts of the world — estimates suggest up to four times the global average in some metrics.

Context

• A new assessment by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) reveals a stark decline in vulture presence across the country. According to the survey, vultures have disappeared from 72% of their historical nesting sites in India.

What the Assessment Found

• Revisiting Old Nesting Sites: The WII study covered 359 historical nesting sites first documented between 1990 and 2000.
• In the 2019–2023 reassessment, vultures were found at only 101 sites.
• Where Vultures Remain: The remaining active nesting locations are now concentrated in three states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
• These states host most of the surviving populations of India’s once-abundant vulture species.

Why India’s Vultures Are Declining

• Impact of Veterinary Drugs: The most significant driver of decline has been the use of diclofenac, a veterinary painkiller toxic to vultures when they feed on treated livestock carcasses.
• Although India banned veterinary diclofenac in 2006, human formulations and other toxic NSAIDs (such as ketoprofen and aceclofenac) continue to enter the food chain.
• Habitat Loss and Disturbance: Urban expansion, quarrying, and infrastructure projects have disturbed traditional nesting cliffs and tall nesting trees.
• Habitat fragmentation has reduced safe nesting zones, pushing vultures into smaller pockets.
• Slow Recovery Despite Conservation Efforts: India established Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres, but wild population recovery remains slow.
• Limited food availability, continued NSAID contamination, and shrinking habitats remain major barriers.

Conservation Measures Needed

• Strict enforcement of the ban on harmful NSAIDs and expansion to include all toxic drugs.
• Protection of existing nesting sites, especially cliffs and old-growth trees.
• Carcass management systems that ensure safe, NSAID-free food sources for vultures.
• Public awareness and coordination between forest, livestock, and pharmaceutical regulators.

Context

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu cognisance that the neelakurinji shrub (Strobilanthes kunthiana) is nearing a threatened conservation status in India.

About Neelakurinji Shrub (Strobilanthes Kunthiana)

• It is a rare, purplish-blue flowering shrub endemic to the Western Ghats, known for its spectacular mass blooming every 12 years.
• It belongs to the Acanthaceae family and is native to the shola grasslands of the Western Ghats, thriving at altitudes between 1,300–2,400 meters.
• The plant is named after the Kunthi River in Kerala’s Silent Valley National Park, where it grows abundantly.

Conservation Status and Threats

• Vulnerable: species on the IUCN Red List.
• Schedule III: Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Habitat destruction due to encroachments and land clearing—especially in areas like Chokramudi Hills—has severely impacted its regeneration.
• Another species, Mettukurinji, which blooms every 14 years, is often confused with Neelakurinji due to their visual similarity.

Context

• Recently, the Delhi High Court declared that no product in India can carry the label ‘ORS’ unless it strictly adheres to the WHO formula for Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS).

WHO Formula and Why It Matters

• Correct Composition: The WHO-recommended ORS must contain 13.5 g glucose (anhydrous); 2.6 g sodium chloride; 1.5 g potassium chloride; and 2.9 g trisodium citrate (dihydrate); Dissolved in 1 litre of drinking water.
• Life-Saving but Easily Misused: A simple mix of sugar and salts, ORS is globally recognised as one of the most effective interventions against dehydration from diarrhoea.
• Excess sugar can worsen diarrhoea, cause rapid dehydration, and in severe cases lead to multi-organ failure.
• Sugar-free or low-sugar drinks, often perceived as healthy alternatives, also fail to rehydrate.
• As per data submitted to Parliament, over 14,000 children under five in India died of diarrhoeal diseases between 2017-18 and 2021-22.