Odisha is the eastern state of India. This year, temperature of summer is at the higher side. Through out the state, there has been discussion about the sudden surge of temperature in the state. Due to the summer heat, at ten in the morning, people disappear from roads and public areas. People are talking about this thrilling summer in the state. Severe heat is piercing into body and mind. Owing to rise of humidity, severe perspiration bathing people with salty waters emanating from their body. In the local print and electronic Medias, there have been many discussions on the ongoing heat waves. Odisha is burning with heat waves. Western Odisha is feeling the fireworks of summer. Central Odisha is slowly turning into the mine field of lava. The heat wave generating from the western side is persistently hurting people of Western Odisha. On May 18, highest temperature of the western city of Odisha reached 46 degrees Celsius.

Due to climatic change, duration of summer is extending for more days and the maximum temperature has risen above normal tolerable temperatures. Owing to rise of temperature, offices, colleges and courts close for summer vacations. People like to go for vacation in cooler hill stations, so that they can avoid scorching summer. Temperatures of hill stations are also on the rise due to climate change all over the world. This year, surprisingly, summer started from the month of February. Climate experts believe that the temperature in the month of June will be an all time record. According to statistics from Government of India, the maximum temperature of Shimla in 1970s was 28.5 degree Celsius. In 2011, maximum temperature of Shimla was 33.7 degree Celsius.

Mussoorie is a famous hill station. Its maximum temperature rose to five to six degrees in the last 30 years. In the mean time, few climate experts presume that, one day, all these hill stations would be turning into summer places and lose their identity as the fashionable places of summer. The coolest place of Odisha, Phulbani, where one can find snow fall few years back, its maximum temperature increased to 44 degree Celsius in summers. This gives immense problems to humans as well as domestic and other animals.

Due to rise of temperature on the land to the sea water in the coastal areas of Odisha is correspondingly affected. Odisha has a long coastal line with more than five coastal districts. The sea water becomes hotter and this gives rise to newer storms and cyclones. High tides in the sea are killing fishermen and tourists. October 1999 super cyclones in the coastal districts of Odisha were the glaring example of how weather can destroy lives and other essential parts of life within seconds.

Rise in temperature leads to new diseases among people. Production capacity of paddy and wheat is on stiff decline owing to these unbearable heat waves. Ground water is receding in a prompt manner. Awaited to untimely rain and cyclones, the destruction of crops and fields has been immense. Odisha is a state predominantly depends upon agricultural economies. The entire coastal belt of Odisha depends upon agricultural economies. With constant change of climate, and cyclones followed by pelting with ice cube rain from the sky is simply making farming a difficult task to sustain.

World Global Fund announced in January 17th. 2011, if temperature of the world rose to 2.4 degrees Celsius, India would be the country where the agricultural production would decline to stagger 30 percentages. It is a huge concern. This is showing in the farm fields of coastal Odisha, where, more and more exodus of young males from farmer communities is travelling to western Indian state like Gujarat to earn livelihood. These are warning trends that need to be addressed. Due to untimely rainfall, crops unable to respond to changing circumstances and that leads to damage of crops and lesser productivity. Ice from, majestic Himalayan ranges are turning into water. It is creating a flood like situation in and around rivers that flow from it. According to climate scientists, there will be the time when the perennial rivers flowing out from the Himalayas would be drying out.

It is high time to look into the matters concerning the rise of temperature and the way to reduce the rise of temperature is the need of hour. Awaited to rise of temperature, sea water temperature rises. This gives rise to high tide and cyclones that leads to sea water encroaching fertile lands of shoreline areas. Thus, destroying already grown crops. Owing to the advent of salty waters in fertile cultivated lands, the fertility of lands reduces further. With increase of industrialization, more and more carbon dioxide releases to atmosphere. It makes it warmer. When, atmosphere becomes hotter, it affects each part of the earth. It does not depend upon the place of pollution.

Other aspects of increase of heat waves in and around Odisha are related with regional developments. There are some reasons for this sudden increase of heat during summer.

1. The air pollution drained out from vehicles and industries
2. Increase use of electricity
3. Rise of cement buildings
4. Increase pollution inside air
5. Mass destruction of jungles
6. Wide scale deforestation
7. Decrease of agricultural lands
8. Decrease in number of reservoirs
9. Rise of humidity
10. Warm air from west

The percentage of carbon dioxide is on the rise year after year. Before the advent of industrial revolution, the percentages of carbon dioxide in air are about 20 PPM. Now, the percentages of carbon dioxide in air are 400 PPM. The primary cause of increase of carbon dioxide in air is continuous use of natural gas related units. These include thermal power, petrol, and diesel. According to estimate, half of carbon dioxide emanated to aid constituted from burning of coal and generation of thermal power from coals.

How regional pollution affects the region and the world at large in increasing the temperature of the earth? Air becomes hotter due to the gas emanates from industries, vehicles, brick factories. The heated air is prospering out of these instruments stays within the atmosphere making it hotter than previous years. Year by year, there is increase in the number of vehicles in and around cities. Due to the high price of real estate, more demand for bricks, so as brick factory making entire atmosphere warmer. Rise of cement buildings by cutting out trees, is simply not helping the atmosphere at all. According to statistics, in Odisha alone four to five lakhs of vehicles are purchased. According to Government of Odisha statistics, there is 34 lacks of vehicles running inside Odisha alone. Think about, entire India and it can be amplified into many folds and the pollutions emanates from these vehicles running on roads are immense.

Within the span of five years, the number of vehicles running inside roads of Odisha is increased to double. 30 tons of carbon dioxide plus warm air generate from a brick factory which creates one lakh brick. When we receive one unit of electricity, thermal power gives more than one kilogram of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Thermal power plant at Talcher of Odisha bestows three lakh a ton of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In the Steel Authority of India, Rourkella, Odisha plant, for each ton production of iron, the plant gives away four tons of carbon dioxide in air.

The next reason for the increase of heat in the air is immense increase of a concrete jungle. Concrete jungle, cement structures increase the heat of sun ray multiple times and then bounces back to the atmosphere. Atmospheric air becomes hotter due to the advent of dusts in it as it reduces the process of cooking inside atmosphere. According to estimation, the air over the sea is less polluted than the air over lands. Air over land is four thousand times more polluted than the air over oceans. Air over oceans is cooler than the air over lands. Awaited to mass scale deforestation, temperature inside lands is on the rise. The perfect example is this of rise of temperature of coastal town Puri. In the marine drive roads, there had been man made jungles for eight hundred years. Of late builders and other associates have been cutting the jungles and erecting cement structures in its places.

This led to the rise of humidity as well as the temperature of this coastal town. When cool breeze from the sea comes to Puri town, it becomes stifling waves owing to mass scale real estate set up. Due to large number of unemployment, young minds tend to dive into business state. They build up small shops in and around national highways. They cut the trees at the both sides of roads and therefore set up their small business ventures. This led to rising of temperature as cutting of trees in and around national highways where many vehicles run in and around is not good for atmosphere as a whole.

Rise of temperature is inversely proportional to water. Waters from water reservoir evaporates due to heat waves. Many reservoirs become empty. This can have rippling effects on person’s skins and other ailments generate as a cause of this. When the speed of air decelerates due to rise of temperature, humidity rises. Additional principal reason for the increase of warm in summer in Odisha is the advent of heat waves from north western side of Odisha. The heat wave comes from central Odisha and it enters into north west side of Odisha and affects many reasons up to coastal areas in the extreme east.

With little alert on the part of citizens can reduce the temperature considerably. We can reduce the use of petroleum based vehicles to a considerable extent. Decrease use of personal vehicle and try to reach to the office through public transport. Countless people and politicians of the West are using manual vehicles for short term destination. The government should encourage the use of more and more solar powered vehicles so that use of green energy can help the environment to become stronger and cooler. Use of age old bicycle can be the answer. The expenditure can be decreased on electric units. Industries should look forward to extracting electricity from unconventional sources like that of air, water, nuclear, heat waves, and cow dung. Western countries especially Holland stresses the need for production of electricity from wind.

Australia is the first country in the world to impose a carbon tax on industries. For this, industries are moving towards the implementation of green energy. There should be a clear cut land policy in the state of Odisha, to curb illegal construction in agricultural fields, irrigation lands. Government of Odisha should encourage people of villages to build social jungles in and around their villages. There should be clear cut government policies to preserve rain water in large scale reservoirs to save water. This helps to reduce the heat in land areas. Existing water reservoirs should be cleaned up and mud inside of it should be removed to make it deeper so that. Water will stay in perennial condition.

In various places of coastal areas of Odisha, sea is cutting across its shore lines. Slowly, the percentages of land are on a gradual decline. Within a few years, some of the cities can be engulfed within the seas. There have been some examples of this when more than five villages in the far away shoreline areas near Paradeep port vanished under sea water. According to survey, within the last 100 years, 187 kilometers of coastline regions were engulfed within the sea. The southern regions of these coastal districts are predominantly affected. The world famous Gahirmatha olive ridley sanctuary is the burning example. Due to massive destruction of trees in and around these areas, sea encroaches 200 to 300 kilometres of land here.

Hundreds of fertile agricultural lands have been diminishing due to the advent of salt water into land. Neighbouring villages in these areas are now facing the dangers of extinction. Anxious villagers are trying hard to save their motherland from the clutches of the sea advance. Mass exoduses of villagers are possible in case they feel that there is no way to stop sea water. From ancient times, there has been tress planted nearer to seashores to protect lands from sea water. Due to modernization and booming in real-estate sector these lands are up for grabs. Mass deforestation continues, supported wholly from local political and influential persons. Owing to this, rise of temperature and development of the sea more towards the land is possible.

These trees are protective gears for marine drive cities. Abundant marine drive forests are in the state of extinction. Local residents are responsible for this. Small hills are also being broken into plain lands. Real-estate mafias are indulging in grabbing these lands. They are continuously building cement structures. This gives rise to increase of land temperature. Now, both natural and artificial protective gears in terms of jungles in and around the sea shores are vanishing. The government of the day is trying to build artificial barricades in and around the sea shores to stop water from further advancing towards the land area. Due to corruptions from local contractors, testing materials are used in these barricades, which ultimately dissolve after certain strikes from forcing water from the sea.

Stealing of sands from the sea is a grave concern. Sand mafias are stealing sands deposited in sea-shores, and exporting to neighbouring states. Decrease of sands reduces the land areas further and gives way the route of sea water to advance further. Ecological equilibrium disturbs and sea water becomes more and more aggressive. People of Odisha had seen the terrors of the super cyclone and super floods in the near future. They will see an invasion of the sea towards land areas. Lack of proper administrative decision making and insensitive attitudes of government of the day is adding fuel to the fire. Due to decrease of sands near the sea shores, the water of the sea becomes hotter. This reflects in the temperature of land attached with coastal areas.

Locals are not supporting artificial forestation schemes. They are involved with land Mafias in real-estate world. This makes the situation for the government difficult. Executive decisions are hardly materialized in the fields. Governments are entangled red-tapes. This leads in delayed decision making. Decisions run through files but in actual nothing happen on the field. Coastal regions of Puri, are highly polluted. There are numerous hotels standing nearer to the sea shores. Dirty waters emanate from these big hotels join the sea. In the neighbouring countries of India, such as Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia are protecting their sea shores. There appoints the local people to watch and save the jungles nearer to sea-shores. In these countries, local people are taking the responsibility; government is facilitating them in executing their decisions. It is a sad state of affairs in Odisha. Here, exactly the opposite is happening.

Among various natural forces, water force is the prominent one. It is very powerful. Human cannot build a barricade to stop sea-water from advancing. It should be a gradual process in safeguarding coastal areas. In this manner, the climate can be saved from further worsening. Only government of the day cannot stop this menace. Locals in these areas need to understand this predominant imminent dangerous situation. Time is running out. We have to live with this destruction meted out to nature by indigenous people in coastal areas. Only jungles can withstand the pressures from concentrated sea water. It is high time all should be awake from these deep sleeps. Unselfish attainment towards a common goal is the need of the hour.

• Written by mohan manohar.
• In category Nature.
• 11 years ago.

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