Food for thought

The Deepawali celebrations this year were perceptibly less noisy than in years past. It could be due to the message of Green Diwali resonating among more people this time, or the exorbitant cost of fireworks. While the Supreme Court’s order banning hazardous firecrackers and fixing a 2-hour window was flouted within the national capital itself, the sharp spike in air pollution immediately thereafter shows the danger of mass lack of civic sense. In Guwahati too, around 50 arrests were reportedly made for violations, while Gauhati Medical College & Hospital authority reported a large number of emergency cases due to drunken driving mishaps. Across the State, Mrityunjoy emergency services reported nearly 290 cases, of which 116 were in Guwahati city alone. While this year’s Deepawali air and noise pollution data by Pollution Control Board, Assam is awaited, data published in 2017 showed some improvement compared to 2016. This is encouraging and needs to be built upon by more intensive awareness drives in the coming years. This is because even though people in general may heed calls for cleaner Deepawali, learning to safely handle fireworks(even if ‘green’)is another matter altogether. As burn injury cases reported this Deepawali by GMCH and Mrityunjoy authorities show, such mishaps keep occuring in distressing numbers. As much as 10-12 percent of burn injury cases in the country every year are reported during the Festival of Lights alone, experts point out. The Burn Care Foundation of Nemcare Hospital in the city has reported higher numbers of burn injury cases just within a 7-year period from 2010 onwards. While loud firecrackers hog everyone’s attention, greater dangers are posed by items like kolgos and chakri. Defective ones can flare or blow up suddenly in one’s face and cause eye injury, or set clothes on fire. In coming years, firecrackers with lower emission and decibel levels may come to the market as per court orders. But public fire hazards will not be minimized anytime soon unless regulations are forcefully implemented by the administrative machinery. At individual level, awareness drives targeting children in schools as well as mass campaigns a week before Deepawali could pay dividends. Firecrackers are hazardous, make no mistake. ‘Chaltahai’ attitude will simply not do.