Heat Hit
Relentless heat wave is badly hitting lives and livelihoods in Odisha.

It’s an emergency situation in Odisha. Heat wave has made life and livelihoods of people topsy-turvy. Turn pages of any newspaper published in India or any website and you will find that if that newspaper or website has any mention of heat wave then most often than not that news pertains to Odisha. Climate of Odisha has been shockingly extreme than many other parts of India and World. The state – particularly the Western part – is simmering for more than a week now with day temperatures consistently staying above 450 Celsius.

Already 78 people have succumbed to heat stroke and exposure to sun. The figure also includes two officers on polling duty. The government ‘confirmed’ figures though are significantly quite less – as government confirmation comes after prolonged investigation procedure as it has to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 for each heatstroke victim. This is a very high casualty considering that the level of ‘precaution’ to heat stroke was/is remarkable high in Odisha than any other state of Odisha. Not many states do take as precautionary steps as Odisha. More than 2000 people died in 1998 and since then the government of Odisha has been on a drastic precaution overdrive. School summer vacation period is the longest in Odisha and keep on lengthening every year; government offices function in the morning and literally for half a day only; you will find Jalchhatra (drinking water supply sheds) at very close distance along roads and public places; and you will find many ‘advisories’ to stop exposure to sun – buses not to ply between 12 noon and 3 pm, labourers not to work in the heat etc. Even people have learnt hard lessons and try to avoid the sun and the heat. But still heat wave casualties have always been very high in Odisha. Hundreds of people have died every year. Numerous birds, animals die untimely deaths.

Surface water evaporation and ground water depletion rate has been very high this year; admit engineers of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). Water supply to almost all urban areas is badly stressed now. Major reservoirs are fast drying have reached very critical levels. Power generations from reservoirs have already been drastically reduced. Hirakud reservoir with an installed capacity of 350 MegaWatt produced an average of only 55 MW in the month of April. Irrigation supply from Hirakud reservoir was discontinued from April 30, 2009 – which normally should have been supplied till May 10. Farmers are crying foul. Their crops are having double onslaught. As sun blazes over their crops, moisture from fields are evaporating faster but farmers are not getting irrigation reinforcements.

The continuous heat wave affected livelihoods of thousands of people very hard. “We used to pluck 70 chata kenduleaf. But now we are plucking only about 30 chata as we return back at 9 in the morning,” rues Shantilata Negi a mother of three. Many are risking their lives as they have no other options but to toil under the heat. “Who will feed my family if I stop plying rickshaw,” questioned Abhimanyu Bibhar.

The Government is in quandary. Many of its decisions, advisories and declarations have either gone awry or are escapist in nature. Government has neither succeeded in initiating futuristic plans; it has also failed to keep its promises made to counter the heat wave. It had declared that no power cuts will take place in the summer, but all its power generation sources are only generating woes instead. A state that boasts of ‘surplus’ power situation has resorted to covert and overt power deprivations. “We faced two hours of power cut even during the winter months,” complains Shankar Hota of Bhanda village in Sonepur district. “Now the things have worsened, power plays hide and seek with us,” he adds further. The state government had declared a couple of years ago that roof-top water harvesting structures will be made mandatory in major urban areas. But that declaration has headed nowhere. There have been no let-off in concretes marauding vacant spaces.

Surely, we are missing vital time and opportunities. By closing schools and shortening office hours we only trying to escape from a disaster that we can very well mitigate with focused approach. Not many benefit from this as they are bound by their livelihood requirements. We have to be proactive in dealing with heat wave and also step up honest efforts to mitigate heat wave and climate change. Odisha has been hit very hard by climate change and Odisha must show the lead in climate change combat.