Diwali Musings

Ranjan Kumar Padmapati

(The writer can be reached at rkpadmapati@yahoo.co.in)

India is a country of more than 151 annual festivals, on almost half of the days of the year In dians celebrate one festival or the other. Every year Diwali is celebrated with dazzling, eye-catching decorative electric lights, earthen lamps, bursting of crackers and igniting of sparklers, but all these leave behind some thought-provoking issues concerning environmental damage and consequent health and safety hazards for humans. These are normally overlooked or neglected amidst immense happiness and enjoyment. The connections with health issues and pollution are complex. In olden days, people celebrated Diwali with naturally available ingredients. Lighting of oil-bearing sun-baked dry seeds such as Nahar seeds and earthen lamps with mustard oil etc., are a few examples of use of eco-friendly ingredients to celebrate Diwali. As the time passed, people's habits of bursting chemically-formulated, ear-deafening crackers, usage of sparklers etc., releasing poisonous substances gradually crept in and are on the rise . Government is not in a position to check the use of high-intensity firecrackers though it is banned by the Supreme Court. Sound level more than 120 decibel may cause mental breakdown and even cause permanent damage to ears. The permissible level of sound level is 50 decibel. Even pet animals are subjected to nervous breakdown. Persons with heart ailments and asthma, pregnant women, senior citizens are badly affected. Diwali revelers should insist on green firecrackers and sparklers with low sound intensity and low polluting levels while purchasing such items.

Every year newspapers are full of statutory warnings on environmental aspects due to bursting of firecrackers, release of poisonous substances for general awareness of public. But the sorry part of it is that the right type of awareness not is being seen among the public to change the mindset of the celebrating people. One is tempted to produce some alarming statistics for general awareness: It is an astonishing fact that every year 5 million kg of firecrackers are burst in Delhi alone. It releases 150,000 kg of PM2.5 size particulate matters into the atmosphere. India releases 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in one day on Diwali, but 5,000 trees will be required to neutralize the effects. The particulate matter of PM2.5 size was 1,238 microgram per meter cubic metre in Delhi in 2019, 50 times higher than the permissible limit fixed by WHO. The particulate matter of PM2.5 and PM10 micron size, when inhaled, permanently settle in the lungs and do not come out. Every year AQI (air quality index) of Delhi goes down during pre-Diwali days due to stubble burning around the adjourning states. As on 22nd October, 2022 AQI in Delhi is high at 260 and is likely to cross 300 in the evening. Due to diesel vehicles, construction work activities etc., the AQI of Delhi was 287 prior to Diwali day on 27th October in 2019 and it went up to 675 at Sanjay Nagar at 8 am on 28th October, 2019 It was measured at 33 places and all these locations showed AQI in the range of 500 to 675 at different stations. AQI is an index or indicator that reflects air quality for human beings. The higher the value, the poorer is the quality of air. The AQI of 50 is considered to be Good, 51-100 Moderate, 101-150 Unhealthy for sensitive group , 151-200 very much Unhealthy, 201-300 very Unhealthy, 301 and above Hazardous.

The data supports the adverse effects of bursting of firecrackers. The smog becomes stagnant for days on end and takes more than a week to disperse, depending on wind velocity, temperature etc. On 30th October, 2019 in Ashok Bihar in New Delhi AQI was severe at 454. These figures may vary depending on locations in the same city. Worldwide, firecracker industries engage 80 million child labourers, and the majority of them are engaged in India. Children should say no to firecrackers as a display of sympathy towards their fellow children. The firecracker business is estimated at Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore in India, of which Rs 5,000 crore worth of firecrackers come from China, which are much worse pollutants than Indian firecrackers and need to be avoided.

Garbage handling is another nuisance value of Diwali. Bursting of firecrackers during Diwali is a problematic issue, and garbage is increasing year after year to a great extent. The daily garbage of Delhi is 1000 metric tonnes, but during Diwali it increases by more than 30-40 per cent. Safai Karmacharis are engaged to clean on overtime basis. Another data shows that the additional garbage load of Delhi was 4,000 metric tonnes and that of Mumbai was 8,000 metric tonnes and in Bangalore it was 1,000 metric tonnes. The additional accumulation of garbage was due to bursting of firecrackers, discarded wrapping papers of gift packages and sweet packets, banana trunks used for decoration, flowers - both natural and artificial - and the like. Ghajipur, the dumping ground of Delhi, is equal to a 40-foot tall pitch and its height rises by 10 metre per year. It will cross the height of the Taj-Mahal soon. Its height was 65 meters in 2019. Indian cities are the world's largest producer of garbage. Papers used in manufacturing firecrackers are not recycled. Its environmental damages can be understood from the facts that to produce one tonne of paper it requires 24 trees of 40-feet length and diameter of 6-8 inches, 300-400 tonnes of water and 2,908 kilowatts hours of electricity. It increases the carbon and water footprints considerably, resulting in reduction of forest area. Though Diwali is a festival of light, every extra Kwhr load consumed will emit 0.95 Kg of carbon di-oxide, 0.94 to 7.2 grams of sulfur dioxide and 4.22 to 4.32 grams of oxides of nitrogen. The chemicals of the firecrackers contain heavy metals that cause irritation of the respiratory tract, anemia and damage to kidney, skin, affect the nerve system, induce vomiting, mental impairment etc. These are just some examples of harmful effects. Apart from the above, the number of fires, burn cases and road accidents also increase on Diwali day due to general negligence and reckless driving after consuming excessive alcohol. All these factors make one to ponder for a moment and campaign for celebration of a green and safe Diwali.