Talcher-Angul belt boils, normal life affected in Odisha

ANGUL: The Angul -Talcher industrial belt has virtually turned a boiling cauldron during daytime but the exact temperature is not clear reportedly due to some technical snag in the temperature recording machine. Though the Met department daily chart on Tuesday showed Angul recording beyond 43 degrees Celsius, Talcher remained blank.

Over the past few years, Talcher had recorded temperature upto 50 degree Celsius mark on many days.  In recurrence of similar heat condition this year too, normal life has been badly affected in the industrial region. Rampant industrialisation, operation of nine coal mines, plying of thousands of coal-laden trucks and thermal power plants together have reportedly contributed  to the abnormal rise in temperature in the belt.

Add to it, felling of trees on hundreds of acres of forests for coal mining and burning of fire to solid waste under Talcher and Angul municipality area.The intolerable heat forces people to stay indoors beyond 9 am but that too is not a respite as most of the time these places face low voltage and power cuts.

Environmentalist Prasana Behera attributed the extreme rise in temperature to the burning of coal and forests, solid wastes under municipal areas and felling of trees. “Only if massive afforestation is taken up and coal burning at mines and power plants stopped during these months, the rising temperature can be controlled,” he said. Despite attempts, district administration officials were not available for comment.