Source: Wikimedia commons
The Supreme Court of India recently banned sale of fire-crackers in the Delhi-NCR region during Diwali. The reaction was divided: experts welcomed the ban, some argued that fire-crackers can hardly be blamed for the poor air-quality of the NCR, while the firecracker industry claimed that it suffered heavy losses. The air quality in much of rest of India is perhaps not as bad as Delhi, but not very good either.
So what should we do as a society? Take a cue from the Chinese (who have banned firecrackers in 444 cities) and ban fire-crackers in all regions with poor air quality? Or just continue with business as usual at least till the connection between air quality and fire-crackers is more strongly established? Should we invest in developing non-polluting fire-crackers and slowly start phasing out the existing industries once such a product is developed? Who should bear the cost of such research, the government or the fire-cracker industry?
Let us know your views in the comments section.
Elangannan Arunan says:
I would suggest regulations and not a ban. Perhaps India should move towards community celebrations of Deepavali when fire-crackers are used in a controlled and safe environment by a trained few and everyone watches. Now we have individual families buying and using, not only polluting but also dangerous fire-crackers. Until we can reach there, we can prohibit fire-crackers producing sound and smoke beyond an agreed level.
Anish Rao says:
If we focus on the issue of poor air quality which is present all year round (not just during the Diwali time or at the time of stubble burning season), the activities that contribute to it are automobiles, industries etc. It is because of this ever-present pollution from these sources in the background, the pollution during Diwali time or at the time of stubble burning season becomes more visible and scary. There is no doubt that we need to either think about moving to non-polluting firecrackers or ban them all together keeping in mind, that it’s not the only thing that contributes to the poor air quality and will, in all probability, not solve the problem for us.
This is an interesting article that I found on this topiic-
http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/46/law-and-society/three-wrong-ways-talk-about-%E2%80%98delhi-smog%E2%80%99.html
Sutirth Dey says:
@Anish: That is a very nice and balanced article. Thanks for the link!
G.V. Pavan Kumar says:
I would prefer a bottom-up approach: that is, educate people about the problem of pollution, give them a choice of how to celebrate AND importantly make them stake holders of their local community. Generally, in India, people have clear distinction and understanding of what is private and a public property. For example, I have never seen anybody in India spitting inside their homes, but they do so indiscriminately outside, in public places. This is because there is no sense of belonging of what we call as public-place; same with our air and environment. Therefore, the moment people start treating their local environment with some care and belonging, they will be more considerate towards issues such as pollution and usage of fire-crackers. So, the biggest challenge is to see how one can inculcate that sense of belonging in the Indian mind. It is an uphill task !
Sutirth Dey says:
Is it merely an uphill task or also an impossible one? What you allude to is simply a variant of the Tragedy of the Commons. Although local small-scale solutions to the problem are available, I am not sure if there are any large-scale solutions possible. Thus, although what you say is undoubtedly desirable, it seems hardly practicable!!