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Don’t make Diwali a festival of air, noise pollution

Every year people spend thousands of rupees on firecrackers in the name of celebrations.

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Every year people spend thousands of rupees on firecrackers in the name of celebrations. It’s possible to shift to eco-friendly ways of celebrating festivals like Diwali, but it can only be possible when we take initiatives. There is a need to create awareness among people. Due to the use of crackers, many accidents take place, even birds and other street animals are badly affected. Being humans, it’s our responsibility to protect our surroundings. We should think twice before using such harmful things. There should not to be any harm to anyone. Instead of spending hours bursting crackers or partying, one should spend some time with the underprivileged. We should promote green Diwali by using eco-friendly things. We should avoid the use of artificial colours and make rangoli with natural things. We should buy only earthen diyas instead of fancy ones and candles. Being responsible, we should motivate and create awareness. We should say no to Chinese and artificial harmful products. We should set an example for others. Moreover, higher authorities should also take some action to make Diwali celebrations pollution free. They make sure that everyone must celebrate this festival in an eco-friendly manner.

Kalpna Maurya


Thoughtfulness required

With the markets in the city abuzz with festive fervour, the spirit of Deepavali and Gurpurb should be celebrated with thoughtfulness. Instead of wasting money and electricity by illuminating your home with decorative lights, opt for earthen diyas, which are more eco-friendly. You can even paint them and decorate them as you wish. It is easily disposable as well. A huge amount of plastic gets generated during this time. Carry cloth bags or recycled paper bags whenever you shop or buy sweets. By giving away it is said that you make space for the universe to bring something new.

Jasmine Kaur Bajaj


Shift to eco-friendly celebrations

Yes, one can shift to eco-friendly celebrations by buying earthen lamps and diyas instead of lights or bulbs. One can use natural colours for rangoli decoration making rather than chemicals. Go shopping with jute bags or paper bags and avoid plastic bags. Use environment friendly products for home decoration. Avoid electrical appliances. Use biodegradable plates and glasses. Gift a plant during such celebrations to ensure cleanliness. Donate to the needy to help them, so that they can rise and shine. 

Laveena Sharma


A trend has already been set

The country must shift to eco-friendly ways of celebrating festivals like Diwali / Bandi Chod Diwas for the benefit of people, religion and social cause. A start has already been made from this year’s Diwali function. Considering the effect of crackers and firework on the atmospheric pollution, the Supreme Court passed a ruling about the type of crackers to be used and also the time when these would be allowed and these have been adopted almost in every state. Also, there has been great emphasis on green Diwali this year. Crackers to be used were notified. Many people/organisations shifted to gifting green plants to each other instead of sweets and crackers. The police played a positive role in keeping a watch over these restrictions, so that these are not flouted much in the cities. Not many objections have been raised and it is just the beginning. People will gradually adapt to these changes. Another advantage with this change is that eco-friendly ways of celebrating festivals result in savings from expenses on costly fire-works etc. The trend has been set and all efforts must be continued that this becomes a permanent feature. However, in making a permanent change, there is a strong need to keep on educating public on the benefits of celebrating festivals in an eco-friendly manner and all efforts in this direction must also be continued by all concerned.

Dr G Dev


Think before spending or wasting money

Diwali is a beautiful festival, which we celebrate with our family and friends. We are coerced into shopping, spending and wasting during this festive occasion. Air quality level rises to a dangerous mark, vehicles are jam-packed on roads, plastics and food waste increases and are seen strewn across the streets. Rather than goodness prevailing, there are signs of distress on the things that we value — people, animals and the environment. So, we should bring some positive changes that will benefit everybody and lead to a brighter festival. We should use oil diyas instead of candles, make rangoli with flowers, naturals colours or rice flour. We should give handmade gifts to near and dear ones. Gifts can be wrapped in newspapers. No crackers should be burst, as they only lead to air and noise pollution and also sometimes lead to serious accidents or fire. People decorate their houses with colourful lights, which increases the load on already overloaded electrical sources. Shop from your nearby locality rather than online, as online packing consumes big cartons stuffed with plastics packing for safety purpose, but it just lands up in garbage dumps and add to the environment’s cost. 

Jasdeep Kaur


Collective celebration must  on Diwali

Man is a social animal. He cannot live alone. There are certain rules and regulation of each and every society, government and religion. There must be proper coordination among the three to protect the environment. It is also the duty of the government to give society pure air and water and there should not be any type of pollution. It is the duty of the society to maintain an eco-friendly environment. In each religion, there are certain festivals, which are being celebrated by the followers of that religion. Be it any festival, it should be celebrated jointly by all for communal harmony. In developed countries, each festival is celebrated at a common and open space. Crackers are burnt by some experts appointed by the government. With this, everyone be it rich or poor enjoys and the environment is also not polluted. Similar traditions may be established in India as well and people should support this. Hope sense prevails and people avoid using things which are harmful and pollute the environment to give a better and prosperous future to their coming generations.

Farzana Khan


Eco-friendly celebration not impossible 

Diwali should be celebrated as the festivals of lights and not a festival of air and noise pollution. Fire crackers seem to be a really exciting thing but its ill-effects are overpowering than the excitement. Every year around Diwali the air becomes deadly causing many diseases and also a large number of accidents are reported near Diwali. Eco-friendly Diwali is not an impossible thing. Diwali can be celebrated with the same excitement without firecrackers. Diwali is a festival of lights and so people should decorate their homes with candles and diyas. It is a festival of happiness, so people should celebrate it with friends and family sending best wishes and by exchanging gifts. People should spread smiles by giving sweets to people who are not privileged. Families should decorate their homes and perform all rituals without using crackers.

Ekroop Kaur


Designate a common place for celebrations 

Air pollution is increasing day by day. The latest region which is in the grip of air pollution is Delhi, where health emergency like situations are prevailing. We all are responsible for creating the problem of air pollution, water, noise, soil, pollution, radioactive pollution, light pollution, thermal pollution and visual pollution. It is the duty of each and every member of the society to celebrate festivals in an eco-friendly way to save the environment. We must educate our children to avoid bursting crackers and one should use traditional lights. We should also share gifts in the form of fruits and other items, which are useful for health of a person. One should also make eco-friendly rangolies and avoid use of disposable items of plastic. The government should formulate such types of polices which are applicable to each and every religion to celebrate festivals at a common place, which must be reserved only to celebrate festivals. There must be monitoring agency to perform all rituals and traditions related to particular festival. We all must co-operate to restore and to protect our environment.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui


Joint efforts needed

If we talk about festivals, Diwali is the first which comes to our mind. Every Indian of every age waits for this festival with great eagerness. If we talk about eco-friendly Diwali, then yes, it is possible. Every change faces hurdles but these can be easily overcome by joint efforts. First and foremost thing is to educate not only children but elders as well. There is a strong need to save the environment. Fireworks create air and noise pollution and both are hazardous. Children must be educated in schools and colleges about the importance of green Diwali. They must teach not to waste money on crackers instead they can use this money in helping the poor. They can donate money to the needy children, who are deprived of education due to lack of money. By this way their money can be used for a good cause. This festival consumes a lot of electricity, which is also a scarce resource. So we must focus on traditional methods of lightning like diyas and candles. By this way, the weaker sections of the society will get business and they can uplift themselves. 

Ritu Priya


Eco-friendly ways need of the hour

It is possible to shift to eco-friendly ways of celebrating festivals like Diwali, Bandi Chod Divas etc. Moreover, it is the need of the hour. Bursting crackers on every occasion be it Lohri, New Year Eve, Diwali, Dasehra among others is a foolish act. The smoke after burning these crackers adds to the already polluted air. There are other ways too to celebrate these festivals. Festivals don’t mean bursting crackers, playing loud music, wearing new clothes, expensive shopping etc. We need to find the new meaning of festivals. One of these is sharing happiness and making others happy. Instead of mad expensive shopping in malls, we should buy something from roadside vendors. This act will surely make not only their Diwali happy, but ours as well. Don’t exchange sweets and gifts with your friends and relatives. It is a futile act. Instead, give sweets and gifts to the poor who in turn will bless you. So, we really need to change our ways of celebrating festivals. 

Bir Devinder Singh Bedi 


Green Diwali possible  

Ensuring a green Diwali is one of the dire needs that the earth needs to fulfil. Instead of spending money on purchasing crackers, give it to teh underprivileged people so that they can spend some quality time by enjoying this festival like us. There should be a limit set on the amount of crackers a person can buy. Also, a specific time must be set for burning crackers and before and after that people found burning crackers must be heavily fined. Avoid using electric lights to illuminate your homes. Instead use earthen lamps and candles. This saves electricity. 

Sanskriti Verma


Hold light shows instead

Everything is possible in the 21st Century and with the help of technology we can make Diwali eco-friendly with the help of the government. They can organise light shows with the help of fancy lights and light technicians in different areas of Ludhiana and would be no pollution and people will enjoy it.  

Sukhpreet Singh Alag  


We are not an aware society 

We may have achieved some degree of education, but we are certainly not a very aware society. We still live in our old ways, celebrations for us are more important than our surroundings. We litter on roads during our never-ending nagar kirtans and shobha yatras. We must inculcate the habit in children that our air has become too polluted and we could make do without crackers and rockets. We can light up the area, play games on such occasions. Eco-friendly fireworks should be developed and timings should be fixed for celebrations. We are responsible for our own problems and we have to solve the problem by joining hands with each other.

Major Gurdeep S Samra 


OPEN HOUSE COMMENT

Awareness, open-mindedness basic prerequisites to celebrate festivals 

Minna Zutshi

Awareness, open-mindedness and empathy are the basic prerequisites for celebrating festivals in an eco-friendly manner. Bursting fire crackers creates air and noise pollution and the already-polluted air quality gets worse still, becoming almost a concoction of toxic gases and particulate matter. 

Unless there is awareness about the toxicity of air due to the bursting of fire crackers, people will continue doing so unmindfully, not realising the havoc they are creating for the environment. 

Community celebrations, celebrating sheer togetherness, lighting diyas, sharing joy with the less-privileged - there are different ways to celebrate the festivities. Why should poor birds and animals be made to suffer all noise and air pollution on Diwali?

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