Diwali is the festival of light celebrated to mark the supremacy of light over darkness and good over evil. The festival is being celebrated this year amidst the gloom of COVID-19 pandemic. Scores of families have lost nearest and dearest in the pandemic. Downturn in the economy has pushed many families into penury. The poor and downtrodden, migrant workers are the worst sufferers and are grappling with acute financial crisis. Illuminating the houses with light has more significance this year to overcome the gloom and lighten the mood. The pandemic has also brought new realities. Health experts have sounded alarm the rise in air pollution may cause fresh spike during winter. This explains the rationale behind the National Green Tribunal asking the States having poor air quality to ban bursting of crackers that release harmful pollutants and have severe impact in respiratory health of vulnerable people. The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) has issued a notification to clear the confusion over the ban on bursting of firecrackers in the state in compliance with the NGT directive.
The PCBA has clamped total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in Guwahati city till midnight of November including the Diwali nights. The Board has allowed selling and use of 'green crackers' in other areas of the state but only for two hours during the Diwali nights from 8 pm to 10 pm, Chatt Puja during 6 am to 8 am and during Christmas and New Year during 11.55 pm to 12.30 am. The State government was not keen on banning crackers with ministers going on record to assert its position initially which created the confusion. The PCBA has stated that release of harmful pollutants due to bursting of firecrackers can further aggravate the health conditions of persons suffering from COVID-19 besides other people. Implementing the PCBA directive will not be easy without the full cooperation of the administration and people. The PCBA has asked the Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to implement and monitor the commercial stockists of firecrackers to ensure compliance of the ban and submit daily action taken report to the Board.
Past experiences, however, show that such directives often remained on paper with administration failing to enforce the restrictions due to lax monitoring by corrupt officials who are in nexus with unscrupulous commercial stockists as well as wholesale and retail traders. The ban on firecrackers in Guwahati can be made effective only by people by taking the pledge not to aggravate the pandemic situation by adding to deterioration of air quality. People must understand that the scaling down is not going to dim the sparkle of festival. It is the light from the clay lamps and the electric lights that illuminate houses, localities, cities, towns, villages throughout the Diwali night. Flooding of attractive low-cost Chinese lights have slowed down the potters' wheels in the state as the demand for clay lamps have declined. Replacing the cheap Chinese lights with clay lamps can help the local artisans keep alive the tradition of making eco-friendly earthen lamps and other earthen wares. Part of the household budgets that will be saved due to ban on firecrackers in Guwahati and non-green firecrackers can be utilised to buy more earthen lamps and mustard oil to illuminate the houses this Diwali. It can also help mustard growers in the state provided the mustard oil for burning the clay lamps are sourced from local mills.
Savings from the Diwali budget can also be used to help the poor and the needy severely hit by downturn in the economy caused by the pandemic and the nationwide lockdown. The money that will flow into the artisans' households will add more sparkle to Diwali celebration this year by strengthening the local economy of the state. The government should also help the artisans to augment their income. The state can also boast of leading the nation in use of green crackers with traditional firecracker industry in Barpeta district manufacturing low-decibel, low chemical crackers for over a century. Like the Chinese lights, high decibel firecrackers from Sivakasi and cheap high noise-making and toxic Chinese firecrackers have flooded the markets adversely affecting the traditional green crackers of Barpeta. The ban on high decibel, harmful firecrackers have brought opportunities for revival of the traditional industry of green crackers in Assam. The State government should patronise the traditional firecracker makers by providing funding for improvement including scientific research to ensure that the production of green crackers can be made economically gainful. The creation of the wide market of green crackers across the country is a huge opportunity for this traditional industry to flourish and generate avenues of employment in the state. Celebration of a green Diwali this year can mark the beginning of an evergreen Diwali for Assam.