GO AHEAD, CHILDREN!
ENJOY YOUR DIWALI.
(It must be said again and again) by Shubhranshu
It is Diwali again and your teachers and many-many NGOs visiting your schools will tell you how bad the Diwali festivities are for the asthmatic, the elderly and the pets. There will be posters and messages telling you how hazardous Diwali firecrackers are.
Not long ago they told us that Diwali firecrackers were made by child labour and hence it was sinful to buy them. It is easy to sermonise when one doesn’t know that these few months leading up to Diwali provide sustenance to millions of abjectly poor families. But, we were told to kill even their seasonal livelihood in order to save them! Now when firecrackers are all coming from China, the child labour argument is gone.
So, they brought up pollution and the suffering of the asthmatic old. And , this time they are backed by the Courts of Law! A few hours of firecrackers, lamps and festivities is now an anathema to the intellectual activists of India, even to the judixiary. A festival that celebrated home coming of Lord Ram is now a strict no no. Diwali has been a festival of all the people of this land for centuries. But, of late it is being projected as a festival of a particular religion. These activists, however, close there eyes to rivers of blood created in our streets due to animal sacrifice in other festivals. But, let’s not get into inter-religion comparisons. I want you all to have fun like your parents and grandparents had in their childhood – pure, unrestricted fun with fireworks and lamps.
As regards pollution caused by Diwali fireworks let me tell you what happens elsewhere.
USA
An average of 230 Americans end up in the emergency room every day in the month around July 4 because of firework-related injuries. A study published in the journal Atmospheric Environment found that fireworks release high levels of pollution into the sky on July 4 and 5. As a national average, culled from 315 different testing sites, Independence Day fireworks introduce 42 percent more pollutants into the air than are found on a normal day.
In the period 2000-2004, fireworks started an estimated 32,300 reported fires per year, including 2,700 building and vehicle fires. More fires are reported on the 4th of July than any other day of the year
Annually the skies over the USA are graced with over 14,000 Independence Day fireworks displays. Organized aerial displays are only part of the story. APA reports that consumer use of fireworks accounted for 88% of the total 2013 US fireworks consumption (Source: APA website http://www.americanpyro.com/).
GERMANY
Increase in sub-micron particle mass concentration by a factor of 10 or greater for about an hour following the 2005 New Year’s celebration fireworks in Mainz, Germany, and a daily average concentration on January 1 exceeding the European Union PM10 air quality standard of 50 μg/m3
(Drewnick et al., 2006)
CHINA
Increase in PM2.5 concentrations by a factor of 6 during the 2006 Lantern Day in Beijing
(Wang et al., 2007).
CANADA
Increase in PM2.5 by up to a factor of 50 within the fireworks plume and within 2 km of the launch site during the 2007 Montreal International Fireworks Competition
(Joly et al., 2010)
ITALY
Increase in PM10 of about 50% during fireworks for World Cup celebrations in Milan in July 2006 (Vecchi et al., 2008)
These countries have banned neither the celebrations nor the fireworks. If your pets are scared, keep them indoors. If your grandparents are asthmatic request them to wear a mask for a few hours and watch from a window. I am sure they will be delighted in your revelry.
WHAT ABOUT CHINESE FIRECRACKERS?
Many fireworks are imported from China which is scary because they have a proven track record of cutting corners by using cheaper, more toxic materials. Some of the metals also have radioactive isotopes. So, avoid Chinese stuff.
So, Children!
Don’t restrain yourselves. Go ahead and enjoy to the fullest. Light up the diyas, play with the sparklers and BURST THD BIG BOMBS. Do take due precautions and care for your safety and of those around you, however.
Wishing You All A Happy, Bright, Sparkling and Even A Noisy Diwali.
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