Ipsa Tripathy
Bhubaneswar: If you have lived in Bhubaneswar for more than fifteen or twenty years, you have probably noticed it too. The city feels hotter now.
Not just during peak summer afternoons, but almost throughout the day. The evenings no longer bring the cool breeze they once did. Nights stay warm and uncomfortable. Humidity feels heavier. Summers seem to begin in March and continue all the way till September. Even stepping outside for a few minutes in May or June can leave people exhausted.
Across Odisha, conversations about the weather have become common. Auto drivers talk about unbearable afternoons. Street vendors keep wiping sweat from their faces. Parents worry about children falling sick in the heat. Elderly people often say the climate today feels nothing like the Odisha they grew up in.
And honestly, they are not wrong. What we are experiencing is not just “normal summer.” Bhubaneswar and much of Odisha are gradually feeling the effects of both global climate change and rapid local urbanisation.
For a long time, Bhubaneswar had the advantage of being a relatively green city. Open spaces, ponds, wetlands, trees, and lower building density helped regulate temperatures. Even during hot days, evenings used to cool down because air could move freely through the city.
But over the last two decades, the city has changed rapidly. Roads became wider. Apartments and commercial complexes replaced open land. Wetlands disappeared under construction projects. Large trees were cut for expanding roads and infrastructure. Concrete spread everywhere. Development brought better connectivity and economic growth, but it also changed the city’s relationship with nature.
Concrete and asphalt absorb heat throughout the day and slowly release it at night. That is one of the biggest reasons why Bhubaneswar’s nights now remain warmer for longer durations. Scientists call this the “urban heat island effect,” but ordinary people simply experience it as sleepless, uncomfortable nights.
Many residents also feel that summer winds have reduced over the years. Earlier, there was usually some movement of air in the evenings, especially before monsoon season. Today, hot air often feels trapped between buildings and roads. Dense construction blocks natural airflow, while shrinking green spaces reduce the city’s natural cooling ability.
Humidity has made the situation even worse.
Odisha has always been humid because of its coastal geography, but rising temperatures combined with high moisture in the air create extremely stressful conditions for the human body. Sweat does not evaporate properly, making people feel drained very quickly. This is why so many people now complain about headaches, dizziness, dehydration, breathing discomfort, and symptoms similar to heatstroke during summer months. The frightening part is that these conditions are becoming more common.
Heatwaves in Odisha now last longer than before. Temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celsius are no longer rare events. In some years, schools have had to change timings or close temporarily because afternoon heat became dangerous for children. At the same time, rainfall patterns are also changing.
People often say Odisha receives less rain now, but the bigger issue is that rainfall has become unpredictable. Earlier, monsoon rain was usually spread across many days. Now there are long dry spells followed by sudden heavy downpours.
When intense rain falls within a few hours, most of the water quickly runs off through drains instead of entering the ground. This leads to urban flooding in some areas and water shortages in others. The disappearance of ponds, lakes, and wetlands around Bhubaneswar has made this problem worse. These natural water bodies once acted like cooling systems and rainwater storage zones for the city.
Climate change at the global level is also playing a major role.
Greenhouse gases released from vehicles, industries, coal power plants, and fossil fuels trap heat in the atmosphere. Over time, this raises average temperatures across the planet. Coastal states like Odisha are especially vulnerable because warming sea temperatures influence humidity, cyclones, rainfall, and heat patterns.
The Bay of Bengal has been warming steadily over the years, and scientists have repeatedly warned that this can intensify cyclones and extreme weather events. But climate change is not only a scientific issue anymore. It is now part of daily life. It affects construction workers standing under direct sunlight for hours. It affects delivery workers riding through traffic in peak afternoon heat. It affects small shopkeepers, farmers, fishermen, and elderly citizens.
The burden is not equal.
People with air-conditioned homes and flexible working conditions can adapt more easily. Poorer communities suffer the most because they have fewer resources to protect themselves from extreme weather. This raises an uncomfortable but important question: who is responsible?
The answer is not simple. Governments and urban planning agencies certainly carry a major responsibility. Many Indian cities, including Bhubaneswar, expanded without long-term climate-sensitive planning. Environmental regulations are often weakly enforced. Wetlands and green spaces disappear quietly in the name of development.
At the same time, society as a whole also contributes to the problem through excessive dependence on private vehicles, growing energy consumption, waste burning, and unsustainable lifestyles. Still, the situation is not hopeless.
Odisha can take meaningful steps to make its cities more climate-resilient. Bhubaneswar urgently needs stronger protection for wetlands, lakes, and urban forests. Large-scale plantation drives should focus not just on numbers, but on maintaining healthy tree cover within the city. Public transport systems need improvement so that dependence on private vehicles reduces over time.
Urban planning must begin treating climate resilience as seriously as roads and real estate.
Simple changes can also help at the individual level. Protecting local ponds, planting trees, reducing unnecessary fuel consumption, conserving electricity, and spreading awareness about heat-related illnesses may seem small, but collectively they matter.
The truth is that the climate of Bhubaneswar has already changed. The summers people remember from the 1990s or early 2000s are unlikely to return in the same form. But what happens next still depends on the choices we make today.
If cities continue growing without environmental balance, future summers could become even more dangerous. Heatwaves may last longer, water stress may increase, and public health risks may become more severe.
However, if governments, planners, and citizens act responsibly, Odisha can still build cities that are greener, healthier, and better prepared for a warming future.
For now, one thing is certain. The changing weather in Bhubaneswar is no longer just a topic for scientific reports. It has become something people can feel every single day.
