Lets Dance in tune with Earth

When summer arrives denizens remembers how green is their neighbourhood or city and a promise to plant more trees in coming days but as soon as summer over the promises also dies down in its own pace with an investment on cooling systems like Air Conditioner or Air Cooler etc. As on a hot, sticky day, air conditioning systems are the modern-day miracle even though it’s expensive and part of the reason why cities getting warmer & warmer. That’s why perhaps Earth Day an American Spring festival holds a reason why Indian City like Bhubaneswar must celebrate it to introspect how once a cooling city now boils not just in summer but two months ahead of summer in spring.

Although Bhubaneswar once use to gifted with many natural streams which are now either dried or carrying sewerage making it a bigger problem of storm water and pollution during heavy rainfall that now quite often arrives in non monsoon seasons. Which often reflects in flooding when there’s too much rain, because that water has nowhere to go as it flushed into buildings and roads, water picks up pollution and degrades the natural ecosystems in its course. However, if more and more green roofs are adopted buildings then the plants will absorb much of that water and prevent it from polluting the environment.

Increase in both human & automobile population supported by construction of housing & infrastructure are all contributing in making Bhubaneswar warmer. Which is reflected in city weather pattern so much that Bhubaneswar now enjoys more summer month than winter and the number of rainy days in monsoon too drastically fallen in last two decades so do spring is no more visible. The result more the hotter it gets, the higher the likelihood of residents getting heat stress and other heat-related health problems.

But planting vegetation on a building’s roof has lots of benefits to naturally cool cities and reduce energy costs. Green roofs can be minimally planted with succulents and native grasses or lush with bright fruit trees and flowering perennial sand the benefits are numerous: reduction in storm water run-off, natural shading and cooling, lower energy costs and even psychological benefits, such as decrease in depression and increase in productivity. Similarly Bhubaneswar currently passing through a phase where lots of buildings are coming up either of apartments or bungalows having very little scope for garden and green roofs options are seems to be the only options of getting connected with forest and fixing various environmental problems including having fresh air.

Unlike in parts of the world & India, where the winters are much colder and rain is heavier, Bhubaneswar’s summers are often hot, humid and long while winters are too not that cold rather be warmer and foggy where choosing the right plant for a green roof is essential. Therefore it is important for denizens to chose appropriate green roofs from two types one are those extensive, which are quite shallow and contain low-maintenance plants such as hardy succulents and grasses and second are the intensive, which are deeper and can include more variety in greenery, including vegetables, shrubs and even small trees. The vegetation and soil shades hard, impervious materials such as bricks and concrete, which in turn reduces the absorption of heat from the sun and provides natural cooling.

While green roofs are still a relatively new concept in India, there are many cities overseas that have embraced the technology. The financial pay-offs for lower energy costs and reduction in the chance of floodwater are important for infrastructure so did the benefits it gives to people’s physical, mental health are just can’t be ignored. But while Bhubaneswar is lagging behind, it’s climate, increasing population and building works are the ideal conditions to join other innovative cities so as to inspire other cities in India as the leader in terms of green investments for better air quality as well as cooling down the city.

Urban Research all over the world including in Bhubaneswar observed that denizens those who have access to some form of nature perform better than those don’t have a glimpse of nature. Perhaps as low as a ten minute brake having a tea or coffee or water in green roof or around trees often increases performance for the rest of the day. Similarly worldwide existing urban trees already reducing air pollution by at least 1 microgram of fine particulate matter per cubic meter for about 52 million people worldwide and more than 68 million people are benefiting from a reduction in summer temperature of up to 3.6 degrees Celsius, thanks to the trees including in Bhubaneswar.

Having more green spaces will only increase benefits to cities from minimal to large investments in adding green roofs or green coverage will result in significant savings in energy and greenhouse gas emissions and thousands of lives are saved each year and going to be save more in future with cooler temperatures and cleaner air. Hopefully denizens & authorities of Bhubaneswar will invest on creating greenery in areas of high population densities and high levels of pollution or heat. As Bhubaneswar till early nineties benefited a lot from its past greenery with reduction in temperatures, which is presently missing, even though heavy investment were done in tree plantations.

Sometime wrong investment in the location of greenery, what species are chosen and how they are arranged also makes a difference in the benefits a city expects in terms of reducing air pollution, decreasing temperature etc and that any benefits will be highest when trees are planted or green roofs are added in densely populated and highly polluted areas. As having plantation in parks or gardens may do less to reduce pollution or temperature etc unless the parks are placed next to busy streets as in case of Bhubaneswar which are very much absent. However, certainly such investments do have other health benefits, like relief from depression, morning & evening walk and space for children.

More importantly these benefits can save lives as well as research suggests that people who simply live in greener areas, with more green around, may live longer with better health than those live in more browner spaces. On the other side only having more green investment may not solve the city biggest problems such as temperature, pollution and health problems arrived from former but it’s the cheapest investment that a city can invest in improving the lives of millions those living in this historic city and those about born or adopt to live in this city in future.

Finally it remains with the city either to choose green investment or a massive investment on artificial trees to suck pollution and install massive air conditioners to cool the city. Perhaps Green Investment is the best options that Bhubaneswar could afford and celebrate earth day year after year with spring in Summer.