The temperature is rising in the steel city of Rourkela due to no-holds-barred pollution. The situation will be worsened in coming days if the trend is not controlled.
Environmentalists apprehend that the temperature is likely to cross 50 degree Celsius if the pollution will continue in the steel city. No step is being taken so far and the initiatives for the remedy are only found in pen and paper.
The city had recorded the maximum temperature of 49 degree Celsius during May and June in the years 2012 and 2015. Besides, other areas adjacent to the city are alsogetting affected due to high temperature.
The area from Rourkela to Ib thermal and from there to Angul and Talcher appears to be a fire ball. During summer, the condition of the residents in the area becomes so miserable that they feel as if they were sitting on a hot pan.
Establishing more thermal power plants, steel and other factories, operation of coal and other mines and cutting of trees are causing the pollution for which the city registers highest temperature bringing pain in galore for the residents.
Along with the rise in temperature, the water and air pollution in the city has raised question on the existence of the area. Although the authorities had set up a refinery for purifying the waste water coming out from the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and Steel Township area, other industries located adjacent to the steel city are not following it.
Even, the municipal authorities are not executing the sewerage treatment plant for purifying the drain water of the Rourkela civil township.
Although, the industries along with the RSP were asked to install a necessary air pollution control machine to prevent the pollution, nothing has been followed so far, said a senior official of the Pollution Control Board. The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) is currently monitoring the RSP, NCPl, OCl cement factories online.
The SPCB is also putting pressure on the plants and factories to take initiatives for massive tree plantation in the city and the areas adjacent to it for controlling the temperature. The industries have also been asked for providing free sapling to people, he added.
Notably, many industries such as iron, aluminium, and thermal power plants are coming up excessively in the locations like Jharsuguda, Brajarajnagar, Sundergarh, IB Thermal, Banharpali and Angul.
To add insult to injury, 33 thermal power plants and more than 60 big steel and alumina industries will be set up between Cuttack and Rourkela in the coming days.
Estimating the growth of industries in the city, the temperature is likely to cross 50 degree Celsius. If the other factories will be set up, the temperature may cross 55 degree Celsius, said the experts.
Besides, the situation may turn drastic in the near future the way the condition of water, air and soil is getting worsened in the city, feels a worried environmentalist.