This Diwali, more noise, more air pollution

10-pm deadline for bursting noise-based crackers violated in most areas

Anumeha Yadav

Mumbai, October 26: Diwali this year was up to four times noisier and doubly smokier than last year, reveals the data collated by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) during the festival.

As for the 10-pm deadline on bursting noise-based crackers, even officials admit that it seemed to have gone up in smoke.

MPCB’s continuous monitoring stations at Sion and Mulund show that the levels of pollutants were at least twice as much as last year. The amount of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM)—that is, particulate matter less than one-hundredth of a cm in size, which can enter and harm our respiratory system—was also more than double at both places.

The maximum noise levels recorded in many places were four times as much as last Diwali. The highest noise level recorded—112 decibels—at Girgaon was more than the noise made by a jet aircraft taking off at a distance of 100 metres.

“At many places like Kalanagar and Matunga, people started bursting crackers only after 10 pm,” says Dr D B Boralkar, Member Secretary, MPCB.

But these findings haven’t come as a surprise, as a week before Diwali, officials discussed the loopholes in the existing provisions—the blatant manufacture and sale of firecrackers like the ‘sutali bomb’ and ‘atom bomb’ that are known to exceed the limit of 125 decibels laid down by the Environment Protection Act 1986 as well as the way no heed is paid to providing details like chemical composition and date of expiry on the crackers.

“I discussed the matter with police officials but they said even they can’t do anything to enforce these rules,” says Sharwaree Gokhale, Secretary, Environment Department. “We need new all-India rules because even if we were to try and regulate manufacture in our state, they would enter the market from other areas.”

Police Commissioner A N Roy reiterated the same. “We did our best to enforce the 10 pm deadline, but we have no mandate to confiscate crackers or ensure that they list these details on their labels. Law-makers should intervene to regulate the manufacture and sale,” he says.
Greens counter both officials.

“They lack the will to improve the situation, the state authorities can and must pass legislation to ensure that these crackers do not poison the air and endanger people’s health anymore,” says Ravi Agarwal Director, Toxics Link, a Delhi-based environmental NGO, which tested and found that firecrackers contain harmful heavy metals like lead and cadmium.

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