This Week Orissa: A ‘romance’ that has ‘faded with age’

Over 40°C in bhubaneswar,up to 47°C elsewhere

Orissa is going through what is possibly its worst summer in a decade. An unprecedented heatwave has swept through the state over the last fortnight,the mercury touching 46 to 47°C in several interior areas and causing an estimated 80 deaths due to sunstroke. Even Bhubaneswar,which normally enjoys pleasant evenings,has been seeing temperatures between 40 and 42°C. The state’s revenue and disaster management department has confirmed only 21 deaths due to sunstroke. The heat has been accompanied by frequent,undeclared power cuts and a scarcity of drinking water,with districts in coastal and interior Orissa suffering the most. The Met office has warned that the blistering conditions will continue until next week. Weather officials said the slow progress of the northern limit of southwest monsoon has sent all calculations haywire.

With hilsa,nahama and more,chilika is A fishery’s delight

At a time when several countries have reported a depletion in fish landing,Chilika lake stands out. Production at Asia’s largest brackish-water lake,high since the opening of a new mouth in 2000,has peaked at 14,228 tonnes in 2011-12,says Chilika Development Authority chief executive Ajit Patnaik. It started in 2000-01 with 11,989 tonnes,a quantum leap from 1,745 tonnes in 1999-2000. From 2001-02 to 2009-10,the average fish has been 11,676 tonnes a year,an increase of 569% since the pre-restoration year of 1999-2000. Six species — hilsa,nahama,paniakhia,kalakhuranta,kekenda and sebakhainga — have reappeared after the restoration,having been believed to have gone extinct from the lake. The hilsa fishery has shown an immediate recovery after the new mouth was opened,followed by the extension of the Magarmukh channel towards river outfall points.