|
|
Diwali:
The Festival of Lights |
What
comes to your mind when you think of Diwali?
Lights, lamps, candles, sweets, rangoli,
new dresses, family reunions, rituals, but
mainly bursting crackers. In fact, crackers
have become an integral part of the festival,
to the extent that Diwali today, is almost
solely associated with the sound of crackers.
But did you know that Diwali was never such
a sound filled festival? Traditionally it
was a festival of lights, when houses were
decorated to propitiate goddess Lakshmi
and for attainment of health, wealth, wisdom,
peace, etc.
|
Diwali
Facts: |
•
An increase in air pollution by six to ten
times on Diwali in terms of suspended particulate
matter (SPM), nitrogen oxides (Nox), sulphur
dioxide (SO2), etc.
• An increase in noise pollution above
125 decibel (dB), which is above the tolerable
limits, and can cause deafness.
• An increase in incidents of respiratory
diseases such as acute bouts of asthma,
bronchitis and heart attacks.
• Half of all firework accidents happen
to children under the age of 16 years
|
Fireworks: |
Legend
has it that the Chinese made the first fireworks
in the 800s, filling bamboo shoots with
gunpowder and exploding them at the New
Year with the hope that the sound would
scare away evil spirits. |
What’s
in a color!
| Common
colors |
| Blue |
Copper
Salts |
| Gold
|
Aluminium,
Magnesium |
| Green
|
Barium
Salts |
| Red
|
Stontium
Salts |
| White |
Aluminium,
Magnesium |
| Yellow |
Sodium
Salts |
|
The
firework industry in India produces roughly
Rs 250 crores worth of fireworks annually.
Crackers are made in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
West Bengal, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh,
with the infamous Sivakasi (90% of the production),
Virudhunagar and Sattur districts of Tamil
Nadu being the largest producer of crackers.
|
Out of the 11 million child
labourers in India, approximately one lakh
are employed in the fire works industry
alone. Mostly young children are employed
because cracker making requires small and
tender hands. Some of the children employed
are as young as 3 years and as they attain
the age of 15-16, they are thrown out of
the job by the employer. These children
work for a grueling 16--18 hours each day
in unhygienic, dingy, make-shift and suffocating
factories-- all for a pitiful sum of Rs
10 -15 per day. Children in these factories
handle chemicals like sulphur, potash, phosphorous,
nitrates and chlorates that cause deadly
diseases of the lungs, kidneys, skin and
eyes. Incase of an accident, these children
get trapped and are suffocated to death
as was reported in 1995 in Rohtak, Haryana
where 8 Children were charred in a fire
accident.
|
You
can change that! |
The efforts of the school
children led to a sizeable decrease in the
sale of crackers: The
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 6th Nov. 2004
|
| Links: |
www.diwalifestival.org/environmentally-safe-diwali.html
www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/diwali.htm
www.kalpavriksh.org/f1/f1.4/esadiwali
http://www.indianchild.com/diwali.htm
http://www.thehindujobs.com/thehindu/mp/2002/10/28/stories/2002102801070400.htm
www.diwalifestival.org/environmentally-safe-diwali.html
|
|
