Plantation drive
The Go Green Drive in Bhubaneswar is not travelling in the right direction with signs of neglect afflicting greenery across the city. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had distributed 51,749 saplings to individuals, institutions and voluntary organisations from 2005 to 2011. The drive resumed in 2014-15 when the civic body distributed 3,000 saplings, after which it was discontinued again. The corporation's environment officer Kapilendra Sethi said 90 per cent of the distributed saplings had survived and they were going to distribute another 3,500 saplings this year.
Besides the civic body, Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) also takes care of the city's greenery. If the government is taking steps to enhance greenery, several trees are being felled to accommodate development projects. Forest and environment department sources said more than four lakh trees had been felled for various developmental works in the state in the past three years. Forest cover is depleting in as many as 11 of the state's 30 districts.
Air pollution
Statistics released by the state pollution control board showed that on Sunday the amount of particulate matter in air at Unit-I in Bhubaneswar was 118. Particulate matter beyond 100 is considered as sign of severe air pollution that can lead to serious lung and heart diseases. The June 4 report also states that the figure for Unit VIII is 165, at IRC Village it is 142 and Chandrasekharpur's count is 85. Last summer, the suspended particulate matter at Unit I was 144, 112 at Unit VIII 64 at Patrapada and 83 at Chandrasekharpur. Senior environmental scientist of the pollution control board D.K. Behera said the deterioration in the city's air quality was mainly due to deforestation, construction activities and vehicular pollution.
Soil pollution
The soil pollution scenario is alarming, especially in areas adjacent to the Bhuasuni dumping yard and the temporary transit station near Sainik School. In the absence of a sanitary landfill site and unscientific disposal of municipal solid waste, the waste continues to pollute the soil and consequently the ground water.
Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said once the imbroglio over Bhuasuni dumping yard, which is under consideration of the National Green Tribunal, is resolved, they would immediately start constructing the waste-to-energy plant there. This, he said, would address pollution concerns to a great extent.
Water pollution
The data of the state pollution control board, which had collected samples from the Gangua, Dayanadi and Dayasetu canals in March, have revealed that these water bodies were severely polluted. Senior environmental scientist N.R. Sahu said the rivers around the city were being polluted by the discharge of untreated sewage. He said: "The civic body has already been issued a show-cause and it has initiated construction of three sewage treatment plants in various parts of the city."
