A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report says that an estimated 12.6 million people are dying each year globally from “unhealthy environment” alone. In the early part of this year, a survey conducted by an IIT professor from Delhi along with a group of researchers from the University of Surrey found that Delhi, which happens to be the world’s fifth “megacity” with a population of 25.8 million, is the most polluted city in the world. The report caught media attention and groups like the Indian Express went on to make a documentary series called “Death by Breath”, an investigation on how Delhi breathes under a blanket of smog.
It is mostly those belonging to middle-class or upper-class backgrounds who find ample reasons to splurge on festivities. Diwali is one of them. With the festival of lights around the corner, the capital city and its neighbouring areas will see sales sale of high-decibel crackers, “Chinese crackers” in popular lingo, skyrocketing. One only needs to pay a visit to the Sadar Bazaar area of Delhi for a better idea in this regard.
Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made an open appeal this year for the ban of high-decibel crackers, sale of which will result in cancellation of licenses of traders, rules, regulations and announcements only seem to be falling on deaf ears.
Despite a 2005 restricting order by the Supreme Court of India to not burn firecrackers after 10 p.m., a large number of people are seen to violate the law on the D-day. Like every year, NGOs dedicated to environment protection have targeted festivals like Diwali to create an awareness by organising nationwide anti-firecracker campaigns.
Founded in 2008 by the well-known social activist and environmentalist Ravi Kalra, Earth Saviours Foundation, based out of Gurgaon, has a dedicated team of volunteer teams working round the clock and making every possible effort to protect the environment. “Our NGO’s volunteer groups are going to organise nukkad nataks (street plays) at various places. The message will be that unnecessary bursting of crackers create too much air and noise pollution, causing distress to senior citizens residing in the neighbourhood, to the sick in nearby hospitals, and so forth,” Kalra tells Guardian 20.
“We are running a project called Clean and Healthy Air Management Programme (CHAMP) with school children. The idea is to create awareness about faulty air filters, how to keep air-quality index under strict check (specially around Dussehra). There is no point creating the hype around anti-pollution drive around Diwali because crackers today are burst not only during the festival but also on other occasions like weddings, birthdays, etc.”
“We will also be conducting a nation wide sit-in protest outside all shops selling firecrackers. Here in Gurgaon, our focus is specially on the DLF city area. The aim is to shame the vendors into realising that whatever they are doing is unhealthy for the global atmosphere. Leaflets will also be pasted on the notice boards of various apartment complexes,” says Kalra.
He adds: “We will also speak to the Nigam Commissioner in a few days’ time, Mr Satya Prakash. Our demands have been about a blanket ban on the sale of all firecrackers (Indian and Chinese), cancellation of licenses of shopkeepers selling firecrackers, active patrolling near residential areas to check that the 2005 Supreme Court ruling is carried out.”
Excessive use of firecrackers in this season turns the city into a “garbage dump”, Kalra says. “It is shameful to see how educated people are destroying their own city.”
But then again, there are NGOs like Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA), which run anti-pollution programmes throughout the year. Their aim is not to target any particular event that causes air pollution because they feel that limits their area of expertise. Registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, Foreign Contribution Registration Act and Section 80G of the Income Tax Act and entitled with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at the national level, IPCA’s conducts awareness campaigns on improving indoor air quality in Delhi.
Ashish Jain, Director of IPCA, says, “Diwali is a great festival of India and it is celebrated with full enthusiasm but it is also the festival during which excessive use of fireworks relates to short term variation in indoor air quality as well as outdoor concentration of pollutants, majorly affecting the health of human beings.”
He adds: “We are running a project called Clean and Healthy Air Management Programme (CHAMP) with school children. The idea is to create awareness about faulty air filters, how to keep air quality index under strict check (specially around Dussehra). There is no point creating the hype around anti-pollution drive around Diwali because crackers today are burst not only during the festival but also on other occasions like weddings, birthdays, etc.
“We are constantly in touch with the CPCB. In fact, we have sent our draft regarding the research that we have done on indoor air quality. Right now, we are waiting for their response. We are also in touch with IIT Delhi for technological advice to improve air quality index in the city.”
To our knowledge, such efforts are, of course, not new. Not to mention vain efforts like these have given ample scope to non-believers to demand for complete ban of all festivals, irrespective of whichever religion that they may cater to. By neither being a part of the ban republic nor being a cultural capitalist, all we may seek for is perhaps a more responsible observance of a cultural practice that has shaped our childhood.
This year and in the years that follow, I pledge to indulge in homemade gujiyas, light up my surroundings and celebrate a “cracker-free Diwali”. Will you?