Baripada: Baripada, the district headquarters town in Mayurbhanj district in north Odisha recently achieved the distinction of being the third hottest place in the world sizzling at 44.5 degrees Celsius last week. For a few days, the town sizzled in the blistering heatwave, and to make matters worse, the humidity was energy-sapping.
All this happened despite the green cover of Similipal National Park in the district. Ecological imbalance and rampant felling of trees are stated to be the reason behind the acute rise in temperatures in this town, said sources. This heat wave has sparked concern among environmentalists. They have shot off letters to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Pradip Kumar Amat, and secretary, Ministry of Forest demanding to stop rampant felling of trees. They have also urged the administration to close the sawmills in the district. Sources pointed out that Mayurbhanj spread over an area of 10,418 square kilometres is the largest district in Odisha. The Similipal National Park is spread over 2,271.78 square kilometres. So despite the presence of such a huge forest area, the blistering heatwave has come as a shock to many.
According to environmentalists, the Similipal biosphere reserve located in the northeast on the foothills of Himalaya lies within two geographical regions, the Mahanadi east coastal region of the Oriental realm and the Chota Nagpur biotic province of the Deccan peninsular zone. It has always played the role of a climate balancer between the northeast and southern parts of India.
However, this time around, the heatwave seems to have beaten all odds, the environmentalists stated. The environmentalists pointed out that the mushrooming of sawmills in and around this town has contributed to the heat wave. There are two licensed sawmills in the district but several others are functioning illegally.
Residents Sanjay Kumar Behera, Jagannath Parida, and Subhash Rout alleged that timber mafias and some unscrupulous persons are felling trees randomly, destroying the green cover around the town. This has been on for the last 10 years, they said, and added that the results are there for everyone to see. They warned that the if the felling continues in such a rampant manner, the day is not far off when this town may well sizzle at 50 degrees Celsius. They informed us that even trees on government plots are not being spared.
