A noise-less Diwali? Really Now!
15 Nov 2012 8:59 PM GMT
US president Barack Obama wished Indians across the world a Happy Diwali from Washington and space walker Sunita Williams wished the same from space. Yet for most Indians in cities across India Diwali continued to be a mayhem, an orgy of noise that went on till two in the morning in some cases. It was a relentless, continuous, unending noise marathon.
Every year we hear from experts the need to go green and noise free. We hear from the police that they are doing their bit in containing mindless use of crackers. We are told by the administration that they are cracking their whip on illegal manufacture and sale of over-noisy crackers, but the end result is as bad as ever.
This year too, the intentions were fine. Reportedly, to check sales of high intensity firecrackers in New Delhi and Noida, the pollution control board had conducted checks randomly in markets spread around both the cities. The teams were on the lookout for crackers with the potential to create noise intensities beyond 125 decibels outside a 4m radius of blasting points. But if you took your round of the markets and selling kiosks across the city, any sign of a raid against high-intensity crackers would appear to have been totally imagined. Either in display or in secrecy, most of the crackers the revellers would want to have access to were readily available. Â
So come sun down on Diwali day, this year like every year, the city became a noise cauldron, and each second thousands of crackers were burst, which, with as much noise as one could imagine, released into the air kilos of toxins which only adds to the high pollution levels. The result? Up to 40 per cent increase in pollution levels in many parts of the city. In cities like Delhi this ensures the pale smog that is enveloping the city every day would continue to blanket the city for some more time and keep at bay the city’s seasonal aspiration of an ensuing blue sky and cool winter breeze that would only be natural to expect in this time of the year.
But no, those who take pleasure in causing a sound mayhem on this day are never within hearing of the endless pleas, requests and threats that go towards them. They are happily violating the noise pollution dictats and no one really can do anything about it.
Perhaps very high fines or penal action would work but that would be disagreeable to the festive ethos. Awareness is unlikely to shake up the revellers into giving away their sadistic ways. So we can’t do much but to brace ourselves for this trend to continue and consider it a good luck that Diwali is but one day of the year.
Every year we hear from experts the need to go green and noise free. We hear from the police that they are doing their bit in containing mindless use of crackers. We are told by the administration that they are cracking their whip on illegal manufacture and sale of over-noisy crackers, but the end result is as bad as ever.
This year too, the intentions were fine. Reportedly, to check sales of high intensity firecrackers in New Delhi and Noida, the pollution control board had conducted checks randomly in markets spread around both the cities. The teams were on the lookout for crackers with the potential to create noise intensities beyond 125 decibels outside a 4m radius of blasting points. But if you took your round of the markets and selling kiosks across the city, any sign of a raid against high-intensity crackers would appear to have been totally imagined. Either in display or in secrecy, most of the crackers the revellers would want to have access to were readily available. Â
So come sun down on Diwali day, this year like every year, the city became a noise cauldron, and each second thousands of crackers were burst, which, with as much noise as one could imagine, released into the air kilos of toxins which only adds to the high pollution levels. The result? Up to 40 per cent increase in pollution levels in many parts of the city. In cities like Delhi this ensures the pale smog that is enveloping the city every day would continue to blanket the city for some more time and keep at bay the city’s seasonal aspiration of an ensuing blue sky and cool winter breeze that would only be natural to expect in this time of the year.
But no, those who take pleasure in causing a sound mayhem on this day are never within hearing of the endless pleas, requests and threats that go towards them. They are happily violating the noise pollution dictats and no one really can do anything about it.
Perhaps very high fines or penal action would work but that would be disagreeable to the festive ethos. Awareness is unlikely to shake up the revellers into giving away their sadistic ways. So we can’t do much but to brace ourselves for this trend to continue and consider it a good luck that Diwali is but one day of the year.
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