SONEPUR: A group of locals have petitioned the Collector, Dasrathi Satpathy, to take steps to increase the green cover of Sonepur and arrest the trend of increasing temperature.
They said radiation of heat from sand in the dry riverbeds of Mahanadi and Tel, fire in garbage dumps and burning of fossil fuels in brick kilns located in the periphery of the town are contributing to the rising temperature. Carved out from Balangir district in 1993, Sonepur was a forest area located on the banks of river Mahanadi. In a memorandum to the Collector, they said due to loss of vegetation on the river bank and rampant sand mining, radiation of heat has increased.