Demand picks up in firecracker hub

In an unprecedented yr when muted celebrations are the order of the day, the firecracker hub on the Karnataka–Tamil Nadu border noticed demand choose up in the course of the weekend. This is regardless of the State authorities’s pointers for Deepavali, which incorporates bursting of solely “green crackers”, which has additionally attracted skepticism from residents and environmentalists.

A firecracker stall proprietor on this aspect of the border on Hosur Road mentioned this weekend, the one final earlier than Deepavali, demand picked up significantly. “Prices have not increased. But the recent guidelines have confused people and many still think there is a blanket ban on firecrackers. But as this was the last weekend before the festival, sales picked up, especially on Sunday. People are also asking for green crackers specifically,” he mentioned.

N.S. Mukunda, former president of the Citizen Action Forum (CAF), mentioned producers of firecrackers would have already produced large amount of firecrackers and most of their inventory can be in the market by now. “Hence, regulating their sales is impossible now. People with asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases are already at a high risk owing to the prevalent COVID-19 pandemic. I have asthma and the problem increases during Deepavali every year and the usage of inhalers increases over five times during the festival season,” he mentioned.

Many civic associations have been advocating a “cracker-less” Deepavali in the town. D.S. Rajashekar of the Federation of Bangalore North East Residents’ Welfare Association identified {that a} ban on crackers was not a difficulty to be mentioned and carried out a number of days earlier than the pageant. “The government should first stop the production and transportation of crackers. It is a chain and the approach should be top to bottom and not the other way round. I do not see any political or bureaucratic will in that regard,” he mentioned.

He additionally mentioned they had been requesting their affiliation members and neighbours to not burst crackers and discourage folks from bursting crackers too. “We have always been advocating a festival of lights which Deepavali is all about and not a festival of crackers,” he mentioned.

On the opposite hand, many questioned whether or not “green crackers” had been environmentally pleasant. Environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy mentioned there couldn’t be something like “green crackers” and all such issues had been simply an “eyewash and attention-diversion tactics”. “The so called green crackers might have low-emission when compared with traditional crackers. Both are two sides of the same coin,” he mentioned.

Mr. Reddy additionally identified that the implementing companies such because the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the police and the civic our bodies didn’t have the required manpower to implement using “green crackers”. “As the government has said that only the so-called green crackers are permitted, all shops will overnight just change the stickers on the packets. How can people distinguish between the normal crackers and the so called green crackers,” he questioned, and added that even the implementing companies wouldn’t know easy methods to distinguish between the 2.

About the sound air pollution brought about throughout Deepavali, activist Kavitha Reddy mentioned crackers are crackers and all crackers are pollution they usually create not solely air air pollution but additionally sound air pollution. “It is unfortunate that the festival of lights has turned into a festival of crackers,” she mentioned.