Diwali can be celebrated in many ways. We can part gifts, share love, light lamps, wear new clothing, dine together, visit near and dear ones, and do anything else harmlessly festive.
But bursting crackers need not be a part of our celebration. Unfortunately, Fireworks on Diwali have become quintessential to the festival. The irony here is we celebrate the destruction of the demon Narakasura, creating more demons in the air and landfills that are killing us slowly.
Today, the News scrolls here in Tamil Nadu read:
- Chennai’s air quality is one and half times poorer on Diwali day.
- The city generated 211 MT (Approx. 2 lakh kgs) of cracker waste in three days.
These numbers are from just one city. So across India, the plastic, paper, and chemical waste we generate during Deepawali must be humungous. Say we pile them up into a monster-like figure that’s blazing heat, throwing particulate matter, and emitting toxic gases into the air, then this demon would be worse than Narakasura that Krishna annihilated. But we are not ready to even give it a thought.
We burst crackers, strew firecracker wastes on our streets, and the next day of Diwali, we relax at home with our families. And out there on the streets, conservancy workers struggle to sweep them. Social equilibirum right? Why can’t we clear the garbage we produce by ourselves?
The next News scroll on the TV was:
- The state-run TASMAC outlets have sold over Rs.700 crores worth of alcohol in the last three days.
No doubt, tradition has nothing to do with liquor sales in TASMAC during Diwali. But this sale has the ruin of many families. With Diwali as an excuse, habitual drinkers get into reckless indulgence. But who is supposed to end this? Should the state not take a stand, despite alcohol sales in TASMAC being a significant source of revenue for the exchequer? Why can’t the government ration liquor like grains if it can’t abolish liquor in the state?
So, if Diwali is a festival of good over evil, then what should be our choice? The argument that banning firecrackers would hurt the livelihood of workers in the industry is a shallow excuse. Because our fancy for fireworks is indeed killing many workers in the industry and subjecting them to a dangerous working environment.
Government should rehabilitate them and help them find alternate safe employment. As responsible citizens, we, too, must decide how we want to celebrate Diwali. Our festivity should spread love and not harm the environment, fellow humans, and other species on our planet.
Representative Image: Nathan G and The Hans India