Keonjhar: Once known as a summer retreat for its cool climate, Keonjhar district has now turned into a hot cauldron as the summer has set in and construction activities are rising.
The continuous rise in temperature is forcing people to stay indoors as the district is slowly losing its past glory of being a cold valley. Environmentalists attributed the rising temperature to use of paver blocks in road construction works. Reports said paver blocks are road-building materials in the form of blocks of solid rock (granite, diabase, or basalt) having a form close to that of a parallelepiped.
Locals attributed the rise in temperature to loss of forest cover and sharp rise in construction of buildings commonly known as ‘concrete jungles’. The rise in temperature has turned the cold valley into one of the hottest places in the state. This year, the heat is felt more than the previous years. The heat is being felt since March while the temperature has now touched 41 degrees Celsius.
Environmentalists alleged that trees that provide cover from summer heat are being felled to make way for construction of roads, schools and buildings. Compensatory afforestation is only in pen and paper, they said.
Sources said road construction works and renovations of ponds in various wards of Keonjhar town are being undertaken for the last two years where paver blocks are used in their up-gradation. The paver blocks get heated during the daytime and radiate the heat at night.
Alekh Chandra Patra, a local, alleged that the consultancy firm lays sand, fly ash or crusher dusts on the ground during construction of roads. This prevents sunrays to penetrate into the ground, thereby increasing the atmospheric temperature.
Bibhuti Pattnaik, a senior citizen, said trees should be first planted by the roadside before installing the paver blocks which will help the sunrays to fall on the trees and not on the paver blocks
Moreover, massive deforestation and unbridled mining activities have also contributed to pollution, said Sunaram Pradhan, a tribal of Kanjipani area. Several water bodies like ponds, wells and streams have dried up leading to water scarcity. He said that he never experienced such searing heat since his childhood and that water shortage is a new phenomenon in their locality.
