Bhubaneswar, June 8: A semblance of comfort offered to the residents by a dip in mercury levels by four degrees Celsius today was wiped off by a rise in humidity.

For the past few days, the average daytime humidity hovered between 20 and 22 per cent. Today, it rose to touch the 70 per cent mark.

Many former forest officials, ecologists and urban management practitioners felt that the creation of a forest shield around the capital could lessen the impact of the hot winds originating from central India, thereby lowering the temperature to a certain extent.

“A dense forest cover grown as a shield can work as a barrier to cool the city. During the super cyclone in 1999, it was seen that many areas were less affected because of the presence of a coastal green cover. If a tree cover could resist a cyclonic wave, a similar formula could be applied for the hot winds,’’ said former principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Bijay Kumar Patnaik.

Another retired divisional forest officer, A.K. Patra, said: “The Chandaka Dampara Sanctuary on the city outskirts can have more dense forests, but in other areas, the city could have a forest shield. The use of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (Campa) funds could be used for the purpose.”

Ecologist Prasad Dash said an increase in the existing forest areas on the outskirts of the city and the formation of a green shield around the city could help ensure a cooling effect. “With a thick forest cover, the city will also have a carbon sink to reduce the carbon dioxide gas, which contributes to warming,” he said.

Urban management practitioner Piyush Ranjan Rout said: “The city has not only lost many plants but also huge trees on the roadside in the development process. With the formation of a green shield around Bhubaneswar (except the southern area, which is the passage for sea breeze from the coastal plains), the impact of the hot winds can be reduced.”

The consortium principal investigator of World Bank supported Climate Change Carbon Finance Project at Odisha University of Agriculture Technology, Ashok Sahu, said: “The shield could be beneficial to some extent, but the major problem with Bhubaneswar is the growing pollution, lack of a proper public transport system and solid waste mismanagement system. We have to address these issues first to bring down the carbon dioxide level.”

Divisional forest officer of the city forest division Jayanta Dash said: “The environment and forests department has already taken up massive plantation work on city outskirts to create a new forest cover. During 2010-2011, 52,432 saplings were planted, in 2011-2012, 2.62 lakh trees were added on the outskirts in Ainginia, Tomando and Gingapur. This year, there will be an addition of 2.54 lakh saplings.”

“The proposal to create a green shield is welcome and it will definitely help bring the temperature down. We are already on the job and in the future, we will plant more trees. But, inside the city, there is hardly any land available for block plantation activity,” Dash added.

Water relief

The heat-wave like condition continued with many areas facing a shortage of drinking water. The problem was acute in localities where there is no pipe-water supply. Localities such as Dumduma, Jagamara, Gandamunda, Pokhariput, Bhimtangi, Sundarpada, Kapilaprasad and Tankapani Road were the most affected.

To meet the demand for water, the PHEO and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is sending water tankers to the areas. While PHEO is deploying 40 tankers to carry drinking water from the high-level tank, the BMC is supplying water with 15 tankers.