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| Koonthankulam village, Thirunelveli dist., TN veethi.com |
Above image: Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary, Thirunelveli District, South Tamil Nadu. 45 types of migratory birds from other countries. No bursting of firecrackers in this village during Diwali!! ..............
When various countries across the world from Europe to South America and from Canada to China are facing a sort of cataclysmic destruction due to unpredictable climatic changes, weather patterns causing dangerous cloud busts, flash floods, heavy cyclones and multiple twisters, the environmentalists are quite concerned about the safety of the humanity and their survival in the next following decades. Since the advent of industrialization centuries ago, the earth and the the air cover around it have been abused as much as possible by humans all in the name of modern technology. At stake is the environment, an integral part for our survival. The future environmental impacts caused by air pollution, water pollution, global warming, increasing volume of rain-borne clouds and disintegration of big icebergs in the Artic and Subarctic regions, etc., will be horribly severe.
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| Diwali festival. Smog in N. Delhi 2018. indiaclimatedialogue.net |
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| Diwali haze over Delhi. 2020 economictimes.indiatimes.com |
In India we have recently seen many flash floods in the Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, etc. A few years ago Kerala experienced the worst flooding during the SW monsoon season. Such erratic climatic changes and the resultant natural calamities portend more dangerous situation in the future and the countries world over have to take serious steps to cut down on air pollution, which is primary cause of global warming.
In India we have lots of religious and temple festivals almost every month of the year. In October there will be Navaratri festival and it will be followed by Diwali or Deepavali, the most popular one across India. Part of Deepavali celebrations is firing crackers. Firecrackers cause lots of air-pollution due to emission by the dangerous chemicals and the Indian states already took steps to restrict firing of firecrackers. In the past bursting of firecrackers in Delhi and the surrounding areas triggered worst air-pollution and the pollutants causing haze due to calm air hung in the air for a few days. The worst situation was conducive to health problems related to breathing. On 14 November 2020 Delhi’s air quality turned “severe” with stubble burning accounting for 32% of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution and firecracker emissions making the situation even worse.
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| Diwali air pollution. cartoonistnituparna.org |
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| Celebrate Deepavali without firecrackers. twitter.com |
The local temple conducts various festivals and it is a common thing to see busting of crackers. But in this village as collectively decided by the villagers, even the temple celebrations take place without use of firecrackers at night. Household functions like marriages normally take place with a bit of pomp, but positively without firecrackers. Bursting of firecrackers in the name of festival and religion will not only affect us but also the organisms and the trees around us. It means death to Mother Earth.
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| Impact of air pollution. shutterstock.com |
According to the Ornithologists more than 45 species of birds from countries as far away as Siberia and Australia come to Koonthankulam. The purpose was for breeding purposes. as they found the quiet village suitable to their mating. Researchers from the Kovai based Salim Ali Centre conduct studies on the migratory pattern of birds that prefer this serene village. Other Tamil Nadu villages that stand as an example of empathy toward the birds are Vavval Thoppu in Salem dist., Perrampur near Seerkazhi town and Vishar near the temple town of Kanchipuram. The villagers don't allow bursting of crackers during Diwali and temple festival days to avoid disturbing bats and other birds. Even loud speakers are not allowed for family functions as they may scare the bats.
The Apex court in 2018 had already banned the conventional crackers on pollution grounds and allowed sale of green firecrackers. The advantage is the "green crackers" are not as polluting as the conventional types of firecrackers and they contain at least 30 per cent less particulate matter such as Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. The town of Sivakasi and the adjacent places in Tamil Nadu form the main hub of fireworks in the country and at stake are the livelihood of about 1 million employees. The companies are working hard to come up with eco-friendly types causing less pollution and very low sound. It means drastic reduction in the emission of harmful chemicals in the air and also sound pollution. The CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute was given the task of developing "green crackers" to reduce air pollution.
https://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2018/11/09/air-pollution-peaks-as-delhi-flouts-firecracker-ban/
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