Bhubaneswar: Residents of Lumbini Vihar and its nearby areas in the Capital City are facing an uphill task to get rid of stink bugs that migrated to human settlements from Bharatpur reserve forests.
The brown bugs are even causing trouble for people residing in multi-storeyed buildings in Lumbini Vihar area. Some locals have already left their houses temporarily to avoid the stink bugs.
It is learnt that Chandaka forest division officials had tried to kill the bugs by fire but the effort did not produce the required result.
“The stink bugs have been causing trouble for a week. They are even entering multi-storey buildings. We are facing a tough task to keep our household goods and utensils free from the bugs. The Forest department should take immediate steps to check the bug menace,” said Pratap Satpathy, a resident of Lumbini Vihar.
Sources said authorities of Chandaka forest division urged experts from Orissa University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) to study the bug menace and suggest suitable measures to deal with it.
Subsequently, a 15-member team from OUAT led by Forestry College associate professor Nirakar Bhol visited Lumbini Vihar area.
Bhol, meanwhile, blamed the blooming spiny bamboo groves inside Bhratpura forests for the bug menace. According to him, thousands of stink bugs have gathered at Bharatpura forests to eat the bamboo seeds. “Spiny bamboos are in full bloom after a gap of 35 years. The reproductive power of stink bugs has gone up due to the consumption of bamboo seeds. Moreover, the recent unseasonal rains have also helped increase the population of stink bugs in Bharatpura forests,” Bhol claimed.
The OUAT expert has advised people to spray bleaching powder around their houses to keep the bugs at bay.
Khurda district honorary wildlife caretaker Suvendu Mallick, meanwhile, asked people to kill stink bugs by using pesticides. “People should burn the dead bugs to prevent birds from feeding on them,” he said.
