Temperature has been rising in the city of Kolkata for the past few years. And there's a direct link between the soaring mercury and felling of trees.The Alipore meteorological office has already declared that a heat wave is sweeping the city and the temperature is 5-6 degrees Celsius above normal. "It was a tragedy waiting to happen," said environment activist Subhas Datta. "With trees axed in thousands, it won't be long before many lives are lost," he said.

"The dry heat that the city is experiencing for the past couple of years is directly linked to the felling of trees. Since trees have the capacity to absorb heat, their absence will make the climate hot," said World Wildlife Fund state director Col S.R. Banerjee.

"Ecological balance is bound to be disturbed. Even rain pattern gets effected because of tree-felling," said environmentalist Mukuta Mukherjee. Subhas Datta agreed.

"Look at Jamshedpur, where temperature has considerably reduced because of a massive plantation drive. But in Kolkata, the situation has worsened," he said.

Trees have been felled along entire stretches of Syed Amir Ali Avenue, Gariahat Road, Park Circus CIT Road, Beliaghata CIT Road, Manicktala Main Road and Narkeldanga Main Road. Large stretches of APC Road, AJC Bose Road and Rashbehari Avenue extension have also been denuded of trees.

Bonani Kakkar, head of an NGO that focuses on trees, pointed out that depletion was increasing the carbon dioxide content in the air and raising pollution.The West Bengal Pollution Control Board too, expressed concern over the impact of tree-felling on climate.
"We've sought a status report on compensatory plantation and replantation from concerned agencies," said West Bengal Pollution Control Board member secretary Shyamal Kumar Sarkar.

Met office director K.K. Chakraborty agreed that depletion of green cover could alter the climate drastically. Depletion of forest cover the world over is leading to global warming, he said.

Doctors warned that if urgent steps were not taken to plant more trees in the city, heat stroke cases could rise in the years to come. "It could be fatal for the health of the city," said Indian Medical Association (Kolkata) vice-president R.D. Dubey. Gitanath Ganguly, a legal expert specialising in environment, has called for an immediate environment assessment of the city, adding that sustainable development was the key to Kolkata's survival.He takes elementary precautions like not drinking water immediately after addressing a meeting in the sun.