Diwali and Crackers Ban — A Recurring Theme
Come Diwali every year and there is a tribe of “sudden environmentalists” who grow a conscience around Diwali time and start advising only the #Hindus on #CrackersBan. They do not care for the rest of the year because they will need to burst crackers for a movie release of their favorite actors, when their favorite cricket team wins a match, when a drug addict gets released from jail, when a celebrity says something on TV that they like, etc.
The worst thing is that there is no scientific evidence to prove that there is air pollution becoming severe only because of Diwali Crackers. Then what is the reason for this argument coming up again and again?
For the scientifically uninitiated, there is something called AQI — Air Quality Index — that is measured for different towns and cities across various states in India.
Did #Bareilly have #Diwali celebrations throughout the year or is #Shahjahanpur perhaps is bursting #Crackers a lot around the clock?
#Ghaziabad and #Ankleshwar seem to go crazy in Jan and Feb — perhaps celebrating something else and bursting crackers!!
Air Pollution happens throughout the year for various reasons across India. The average AQI of India is more than 144 and that is bad in itself. But that does not definitely warrant a blanket on bursting crackers across India. For example, the worst-performing cities and towns in Tamilnadu are still way better in AQI (Air Quality Index) than the national average. If anything, Chennai seems to have done better in terms of AQI in November and December of 2020!
Does that mean to say every place in India should celebrate Diwali by bursting crackers? Not necessarily! Look at how the AQI in your place is and take a call. But trying to apply a blanket ban on crackers is a dumb idea in my opinion.
As a matter of fact, a detailed study report on environmental pollution and its root causes by IIT Kanpur shows no correlation between pollution and crackers but cites various other sources of pollution.
So, we need to find the real reasons for air pollution and fix them to save our children or the environment from pollution.
People who cite AQI as a reason to not burst crackers don’t tell that it keeps varying during the day and the daily averages are the right measure to take. Obviously, when you burst some crackers, there will be smoke released. So, if you consider the AQI at that specific time, it would be high and might seem even alarming. But whether it stays at the high levels or not is what one has to look at.
Looking at the AQI, Chennai is more than normal now, 5 days after Diwali.
Whereas the air quality for New Delhi seems to be bad even 5 days after Diwali is over.
Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai said the effect of Diwali crackers is waning but crop residue burning continues to worsen air quality in the city
So, calls about bursting crackers or not have to be taken on a case-to-case basis, depending on the place. A blanket ban of crackers across is not the solution.
It has become a common theme these days that some celebrities give unwarranted and unsolicited advice for many Hindu festivals while keeping quiet about every other festive occasion. The issue is they are such hypocrites about their stands that they get exposed by even common people.
So, in that context, Sadhguru’s tweet came as surprise support for Diwali, and unsurprisingly, the tweet went viral.
Does this mean Sadhguru is giving his approval for crackers causing environmental pollution? Not really. He is only talking about:
- Letting children (not everyone) have the joy of crackers on Diwali
- Letting adults take environmentally responsible actions like avoiding vehicles, not using air conditioners, etc. for a few days as compensation for any pollution caused by crackers
This one Diwali tweet cannot be pitted against all the environmental work Sadhguru and Isha Foundation are doing. As we have seen, Diwali crackers maybe just a minuscule portion of the air pollution in India.
The rewards and recognitions for the Foundation speak volumes about their positive contribution to the environment.
Sadhguru is already championing the cause of planting millions of trees across the country through the Rally For Rivers initiative.
He is also pushing the Carbon Reduction agenda across the globe. While we need to see a 45% cut, 100 countries have seen a 16% increase in emissions. “But ‘HOPE IS NOT LOST’ as the ‘ground breaking’ project Cauvery Calling aims to contribute 8–12% of India’s carbon sequestration targets for 2030,” says a UK magazine.
In fact, India’s government is also realizing that Cauvery Calling can significantly contribute to meeting the nation’s COP26 commitments and accelerate India’s effort to transition to net-zero carbon emissions. The project’s goal of planting 2.42 billion trees will sequester 200–300 million tons of CO2 by 2030.
If you are still really concerned about pollution caused by crackers, please do this to help people like us, just for the next 7 days:
- You can avoid bursting crackers
- Walk to the office and not use any bus or car (which incidentally cause pollution throughout the year)
- Stop buying or consuming meat (the meat industry is one of the biggest pollutants on the planet)
- Stop using mobile phones and air conditioners (did you not hear about the Chloro Flouro Carbon emissions?)
Finally, be safe while bursting Crackers (any time), light up your lives, and have fun during Diwali.
