Prasanta Kumar Dash
Bhubaneswar, April 27: Look at the coconut grove from the snapshot above, spread over few acres. It's a plant lover's green-envelope created behind his residence for a jolly living, located at Baramunda area in Bhubaneswar city.
The orchard is having sprinklers and drips irrigation system, having being abundance of water inside the orchard. Still, the coconut grove which was looking lush-green a few weeks ago, for the thickly green leaves of the sky-kissing coconut trees, waving out like long fins and dispersing shady-cool air around the locality, has begun drying up and withering away, for the week-long heatwave.
According to the custodian of the garden, "We never stopped feeding water into the terraces, made to flow water into the coconut orchard. In view of managing the severe heatwave prevailing here, we have alerted the green fingers to allow drips irrigation round the clock, to stabilize and get rid of the roasting temperature. Apart from it, the whole garden is almost tilled everywhere, to absorb water into deeper ground. Similarly, deep pit-like water carrying grooves have been dug out surrounding each tree-trunk in order to capture water for keeping up the plant's shoots ever-green as in the spring season. However, all our sincere efforts have gone futile since the trees have now stood bare and dried up due to unbearable heat.
All coconut trees have lost their greenery shedding most of their leaves only remaining are the newly coming shoots. Thus the green leaves have fallen off the trees which have thrown a deserted look to the coconut orchard. As of now, a few dry and withered away coconut leaves are waiting for an immature and accidental shedding, in some tender plants which are resting under in the shade beneath other dense trees.
Not only the coconut trees, other green plants and orchids those normally withstand to higher summer temperature, have also started shedding green leaves unnaturally for the severest heat this season. They are standing dryer despite sufficient water is sprouted at their root-bottom and cold water sprinkles on their whole shoot-system, surplus on the leaves.
Director, SOA's Centre for Environment & Climate(CEC) Dr. Sarat Chandra Sahu said, year 2024 is going to be one of the hottest years so far, if the day temperature recorded on the weekend of April is taken as a parameter. During the month, Smart City Bhubaneswar has so far witnessed over 36 degree centigrade minimum and over 44.6 degree centigrade maximum temperature which is much higher than that of the last year scales. The abnormally high temperature during this period is now affecting the man and animal's day-to-day activities and the plant habitat.
With no substantial shower over the next one, or two days denizens in the city will suffer a lot as the mercury is expected to rise yet higher, Dr. Sahu added.
Environment Critic Shantwana Dash said, amid climate change and concerning status of global warming due to green-house effect, abnormal heatwave in the summer has brought a new challenge for the human ecosystem. It's why early April in Odisha and even in Smart City Bhubaneswar with having surplus greenery, is witnessing roasting temperature before June, which is considered the hottest month for the Odisha climate.
