HC ban on crackers goes up in smoke

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 20

Though the High Court (HC) had kept three hours time slot (6:30 m to 9:30 pm) for residents to burst crackers on Diwali, the ban orders were blatantly flouted by residents as they burst crackers till late in the night. Starting from 6 pm, people continued to burst crackers till 12 am.

Be it houses or on roads, residents especially children were seen bursting crackers all over the city. Though many residents flouted the norm, the Green Diwali concept was observed by many this time. The pollution level was less till 7 pm but, all of a sudden the smog engulfed the entire city after 8:30 pm as residents started bursting crackers.

Niman, a homemaker, said both her sons always bursted crackers on Diwali. “No one asked them to go for Green Diwali. This time they themselves volunteered not to buy or burst crackers. And it was a good change. So, we celebrated the festival of lights in a simple and safe manner to save the environment,” she added.

The auspicious day is incomplete for many without crackers. Rachna, another homemaker, said crackers have to be bursted as a shagun (ritual). “But, instead of buying big and noise-making crackers, we choose anaar, phuljhari etc to do the shagun,” she added.

Though government officials were pleading with residents to celebrate Green Diwali, when it came on them, most of them did not follow the rules.

One of the officials with the Excise and Taxation Department was condemned even on Facebook for polluting the environment.

Balpreet Kaur, a resident of Rakh Bagh, said the officer had called cooks to prepare food for a get together. Left-over of non-vegetarian food was scattered here and there after the party. “To everybody’s surprise, the official, his family and friends burst crackers till late in the night. We should never preach what we do not practice ourselves,” said Balpreet.