Sale of crackers dips this Diwali

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Fatehabad/Sirsa, November 12

Owing to campaigns for a green Diwali, fewer crackers were burnt by people this year, though the festival of lights was celebrated with full fervour in Fatehabad, Sirsa and other parts of the state.

Morning walkers in Fatehabad said they were expecting heavy smog today but to their pleasant surprise, they found the environment much cleaner.

Dhruv Taneja, a student of class XII from SBPDAV Senior Secondary School, who floated NGO Humble Humanities last year to make the town cleaner with the help of students, said several students of his school had pledged not to burst crackers.

Students of The Olive School, Fatehabad, had organised a rally in various localities of the town urging people to celebrate green Diwali and desist from crackers.

Leelama Mathews, principal of the school, said students were educated on the threats to environment due to pollution caused by crackers.

Students as well as their teachers Vidushi, Deepali, Himani, Kritika, Seema, Shalu, Gaurav, Deepika and Geeta moved from one locality to the other carrying placards.

Inquiries from cracker sellers in Fatehabad and Sirsa confirmed that there was less demand this year as compared to the sales witnessed last year.

“The awareness campaigns by media has made it possible,” said District Education Officer Dr Yagya Dutt Verma.

Posts from other districts of Haryana on social networking sites also revealed that there was a marked decrease in bursting of crackers.

Mahabir Jaglan, a geography professor in Kurukshetra University, said there was a decline in bursting of crackers this year.

Kuldeep Dhindsa, a former professor from CCS Haryana Agriculture University, said burning of crackers was reduced by at least 40 to 50 per cent at Shahbad in Kurukshetra.

Shri Bhagwan Bawa, a school principal from Rewari, said “We had started a campaign against crackers at schools and the efforts proved fruitful.”

“It is largely due to poor crop and lesser prices of paddy this year. When farmers don’t have money, how will they celebrate Diwali,” said Avtar Singh, a farmer.

However, his claim was belied by the sales registered by dealers of other commodities.

Varun of Ruchika Confectionery at Fatehabad, Sohan Chugh of Punjab Radio Company, Sirsa and Agarwal Sweets, Sirsa, said they had bumper sale of confectionery, electronics items and sweets this Diwali and it was much more than the sales recorded last year.