Queen of the mountains, Mussoorie: People reach Mussoorie in search of relief from the scorching heat. But now the heat has started bothering there as well. Heat is being felt like the plains. After many years, the temperature in the city has risen to 35 degrees. Local people are also worried due to the unexpected rise in temperature. The tourists who have come to the city are also not able to roam around properly during the day due to the heat.
Local people say that the ongoing construction work in Mussoorie, shrinking of forest areas, rapid increase in population, low number of plantations and global warming etc. are the main reasons for the constantly increasing temperature.
The people who lived in Mussoorie for more than 50 years have never experienced such heat. Even if it was hot, it used to rain within a day or two, but now the heat is being felt in Mussoorie like the plains. Now the people living in the city are experiencing heat since morning, which never happened before.
It has been hot in Mussoorie for many days but it is not raining. The biggest reason behind this is illegal felling of trees. The number of oak, deodar, rhododendron trees is continuously decreasing. Mussoorie is turning into a concrete city. Earlier there were a large number of trees in Mall Road, now very few are seen. The heat is being felt in Mall Road like the plains, which is a matter of concern.
Senior environmentalist of Mussoorie, Vipin Kumar said that continuous felling of trees and unplanned construction work in Mussoorie is affecting the weather of Mussoorie. The speed at which construction work is going on, the forest area is decreasing, the number of vehicles is increasing, it is affecting the temperature of the city. The speed at which the oak trees are falling, it seems that in the coming time Mussoorie will become barren and will remain a hill station only in name. Most of the trees planted by the Eco Task Force were of cypress, whereas broad leaf plants should have been planted.
If broad leaf plants were planted, the earth’s temperature would also have been controlled. Oak tree is the most effective in controlling the earth’s temperature in the mountains, but now the oak trees are in danger. Builders are coming to Mussoorie from outside. They have no concern with the greenery of Mussoorie. They have to build hotels and earn money. If no concrete plan is made to save Mussoorie, then not only will the weather of Mussoorie be affected, but tourism will also end.