No measures yet by Odisha govt to tackle heat wave

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 29:

Notwithstanding the temperature soaring to above 41 degree Celsius in Bhubaneswar on Friday and ominous warning from the Met office that it could go up even further in the next couple of days, the Odisha government is yet to put in place any preventive measures to tackle the blistering heat in the state capital.

The government is too busy with the heat and dust of elections to bother about the heat wave, allege citizens of the capital city.

Neither the Health department and nor the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have bothered to make emergency provisions to provide drinking water to the people by opening water kiosks (jalachhatra) along the busy thoroughfares and market places in the city.

Predicting that the temperature in Bhubaneswar would rise further to 43 degree Celsius in a couple of days, Dr Surendranath Pasupalak, weather scientist at the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) told OST that the temperature would be even higher in the state capital due to excess heat radiation from the black top and concrete roads and houses and absence of adequate green cover.

Though Special Relief Commissioner PK Mohapatra, in a recent order, had directed the district collectors to take adequate measures to tackle the heat wave, there has been no action taken anywhere in the state as the district administrations are busy with the ensuing election process.