Why Spend on Eco-Friendly Diwali Ads, When IGNORANT People DON’T CARE?

Why Spend on Eco-Friendly Diwali Ads, When IGNORANT People DON’T CARE?

Why Spend Eco-Friendly Diwali Advertisements, When IGNORANT People DON’T CARE? Celebrate Diwali In A Noise-Free, Eco-Friendly Way-Thank You!

“Let us fill our homes with prayers and lights, and NOT with fumes and crackers. Avoid the celebration which is not pro for ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH, OTHER LIVING CREATURES. Come, let us celebrate Eco-Friendly Deepavali 2017. Bursting of crackers is not safe for the Environment and Health. Bursting of crackers near Hospitals, Old-Age Homes are strictly prohibited, and crackers emitting sound more than 125 decibels should be prohibited. Bursting of crackers adversely effect health and environment. Bursting of crackers strictly prohibited between 10 pm and 6 am. Celebrate the festival of Deepavali with Care for Life and Concern for Environment ”- a message from CM Siddaramaiah and Ramanath Rai (Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment) that appears in Print and Electronic Media- and also on TV Channels.

Mangaluru: Many of you might have seen the above such advertisement for the last few years, and again this advertisement from the CM, Minister Ramanath Rai, Dept. of Forest, Ecology and Environment and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has appeared in many national dailies and TV Channels this year too spending few lacs- but seems like no one is caring about the warning and no one is taking action against those who ignore these warnings. So what good is it to spend money on awareness ads, if people simply ignore them, and also that law enforcement authorities don’t give a damn about it. As of last night, loud noises of fireworks are already in the air, and people have been bursting crackers past 10 pm the curfew time. Where are the cops to stop this? Why are people so ignorant, especially the rich and the educated who should know better? The bottom line here is ” We Don’t Care, and Nobody Can Stop Us. We have Money and We have Influenced. We Rule”. Bah Humbug.

Last year when I wrote an article “Damaging Swachh M’luru! Streets Layered with Firecrackers Waste” which was published in our website dated 11 October 2016 (Ref: http://www.mangalorean.com/damaging-swachh-mluru-streets-layered-firecrackers-waste/), one of our ardent reader was not happy with it and posted this comment stating, ” Mr Alphy, why such an article only for Dussehra or Deepavali, why not at the time of Christmas or other festivals. Don’t people burst crackers for Christmas or at the time of Id or do you mean to say, you sweep the road once your festivities or processions are over. Please have the patience to wait till December Sir. I believe in all communities. I celebrate Deepawali, Dasara, do celebrate Christmas and Id with my friends but I don’t hurt the sentiments of any community just for the sake of news headlines.”

Oh well, for the kind information of this person, I am not the only one that is trying to bring awareness about the use of loud fireworks, especially bombs, firecrackers etc in the interest of safety hazards, safe environment and Health-the Chief Minister, Minister of Forest, Ecology and Environment, many Animal Rights Activists, many social organizations and many other prominent writers have raised their voices against the use of fireworks that harm the Environment, Health and other living creatures. I was not trying to hurt the sentiments of Hindu people during Hindu festivals only, I was only trying to bring awareness about noise pollution and smoke pollution that will ruin the atmosphere and also the health of humans and animals. My last article about fireworks is for everyone irrespective of caste, creed or religion- may they be Hindus, Muslims or Christians-Laws should be followed by everyone irrespective of caste or religion. Trust me, come December 2017, I will have one more article during Christmas time to bring awareness on fireworks. Period.

Even though the law says no bursting of firecrackers near hospitals, old-age homes etc, and no bursting of crackers past 10 pm till 6 am, and in spite of this message conveyed through advertisement in many dailies, but it seems like no one is adhering to these laws or warnings. Like Police Commissioner, T R Suresh had said that people are feared about the laws, not fear about the cops, you see people breaking the laws. But nothing much has been done to rectify this issue. For example, there are celebrations around the Kadri temple vicinity, there has been loud music and even fireworks displayed past the prohibited time – for the fact there are three hospitals close by- namely City Hospital, Tejaswini Hospital, Vijaya Nursing Home, and Mangala Hospital & Mangala Kidney Foundation (all four located within half a Km) – but no one has taken any precautions. I have no problem with fireworks or music, but let the fireworks have less noise and play the music under low noise- because you are scaring the pet/stray dogs and animals, also the kids- and the patients bedridden in the nearby hospitals. Hope you got the point.

Nearly 10-15 years back, our house in Kadri was surrounded by a few houses, but now all these houses have been sold, and in those areas, three apartments have come up. Imagine the adults/children come out of these apartments on a Diwali night, and use their parking lots to burst crackers/fireworks- it was like a war-zone last night, and that too past 10 pm- and I had to put all my four dogs inside the house-of which couple of them in my closed bathroom. And for the fact- all these apartment residents were educated and in the same time rich- and such people breaking the sound curfew rule-how nice?

Few weeks ago, one professor teaching at a reputed institute staying in one of this apartment came to me and said that I should see that my dogs don’t bark loud at night since it disturbs their sleep”. I had a befitting answer to him, ” Sir, I will stop my dogs barking provided you stop all the noise coming from around here, right from the loud noises coming from rich parents kids driving/riding high end vehicles with modified silencers, barking noise from the stray dogs, noise from the loud music/fireworks etc- my dogs only bark when they are distracted by all these nuisances-if not they are quite. And you should also appreciate that my dogs barking will keep your apartments safe from intruders, while your security man is fast asleep? Do you know that? ” He had no proper reply for my answer.

Tit-for-tat, last night around 10.15 pm I went looking for this professor, and finding him in the apartment parking lot, I said to him, “Dear Sir, do you know its 10.15 pm, and your kids are still bursting loud fireworks- it is disturbing my SLEEP, and also you should know that my dogs are not barking because of this loud fireworks disturbance, because they have been locked up inside my house. Being a responsible and educated citizen you should have known better. Anyways, thank you-just wanted to bring to your notice about the awareness on noise pollution. And also remember ‘people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones?”. This man remained silent with no word for me.

We are all educated people in a town called “Education Hub” but we are not using our common sense when we knowingly light up fireworks and mess up the area. There are many ways of looking at this ticking time bomb issue but I will try to enumerate as many as possible. Apart from Noise Pollution, Health Hazards, Air Pollution, Irate animals, (For animals, fireworks are no cause for celebration. Firework displays and celebrations bring confusion, anxiety, and fear into the animals, whether they are on the streets, or as pets in our house.), Property Damage, and Overspending by consumers, Fireworks/firecrackers are just a nuisance in keeping the city clean. Every morning when I feed my dogs, a few stray dogs come our house gate where they get fed- but today none of them showed up- bet they are hiding somewhere due to fear of last night’s fireworks.

While many Mangaloreans were enjoying their extra Thursday morning snooze, post festivities of First night of Diwali celebrations, pourakarmikas (MCC sweepers) across the city were taking up the gargantuan task of cleaning last night’s mess. In most residential areas, cracker waste formed an additional layer over the roads with people having kicked off celebrations with fireworks. For example, a multi-storeyed apartment on kadri Kambla road, where only rich people can afford to stay there, had bursted crackers right outside the apartment gate on the street, thereby creating a mess of leftover crackers pieces. These educated and rich people didn’t wanted to dirty their apartment premises, instead made a mess on the street. Simply a act of ignorance! And the MCC cleaning lady speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” Only rich people will do such a thing. They didn’t wanted to burst crackers inside their apartment compound, since they will have to clean the leftover, instead made a mess on the street for me to clean. Happens every time, and no one cares.”

The festival of light and prosperity has now become a festival of noise, hazards, accidents and choked up the atmosphere. I feel that there is NO .. absolutely NO reason left to keep the cracker culture still up. Time has changed and it is calling us to change as well. India (or world) 100 years ago is not the same. The environment with various kinds of pollutants in it has become like a ticking time bomb which is ready to explode any day. And before I proceed with the answer in detail I would say that it is not about Diwali or Hindus. It is about every Indian. It’s about every Indian because festivals are just an excuse. We light up crackers on every Indian festival including Christmas and New Year. As a responsible generation, we should think about preserving our environment so that the generations to come can enjoy and live the way we are living. So that the generations to come do not end up cursing us for being selfish. There are many ways of looking at this ticking time bomb issue but I will try to enumerate as many as possible.

In conclusion, What is Diwali without the cacophony of fireworks and the thick smoke that blends into the air we breathe, throwing those vulnerable into a fit of coughs? Festivities apart, the Diwali season brings along the eco-friendly brigade that encourages people to ‘go green’ and stop bursting firecrackers. Countless people, old and young, have given up the practice to preserve the environment and protect animals and the elderly from the noise pollution. If we have laws about fireworks let the administration implement it very strictly, if not it will be just a joke. There are less harmful ways to celebrate the festival, they say, while others defend the tradition. Happy Deepavali- celebrate the safest way as possible. Thank You from Me and also My Pet Dogs!

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Damaging Swachh M’luru! Streets Layered with Firecrackers Waste