On the morning of Dhanteras, I was tending to the plants on my terrace when the loud, rhythmic beats of dhols and nagadas caught my attention. A wedding was under way in our housing society. The percussion set me thinking.
The illumination associated with Diwali, the festival of lights, can easily be achieved with lamps, diyas and lanterns. A festive atmosphere can be created through the powerful beats of drums, without polluting the air, unlike the bursting of firecrackers. Yet the noise and excitement of bursting firecrackers seem to have acquired a significance of their own during one of north India’s most important festivals.
Why, I wondered, are we willing to compromise our ability to breathe and choke our lungs with toxic pollutants for a few fleeting moments of excitement? Why add fuel to the fire and further aggravate the appalling pollution engulfing Delhi and much of northern India during the winter months?
As I write this, on November 6, the Supreme Court has permitted the conditional use of certified green crackers in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) on November 7 and 8, during specified hours. Yet people in my neighbourhood have already been bursting firecrackers with religious fervour. Those who object are often accused of moral policing Hindus.
Is concern about the air we breathe an attack on religion? Is the desire to protect our children and elderly people from respiratory illnesses an attempt to undermine a festival? And should the freedom to celebrate necessarily include the freedom to inflict pollution on others? The central question is whether our Diwali celebrations should continue to disregard their devastating consequences for public health.
Delhi is gasping for air
As the daily average Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi has been fluctuating between the “very poor” and “severe” categories, the health advisories have become depressingly familiar: avoid outdoor exposure, keep windows closed and use air purifiers. The city is under Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The restrictions include curbs on certain older petrol and diesel vehicles, dust-generating construction activities and changes to schooling arrangements for younger children in Delhi and neighbouring NCR cities.
Yet, many of us are vehemently asserting our right to celebrate Diwali by bursting crackers, adding another source of pollution to an atmosphere. The irony is difficult to ignore.
The problem, moreover, does not end with Diwali. The smoke and particulate matter released during the festival add to a larger pollution burden that persists through the winter.
The air we continue to breathe long after Diwali silently damages our health. The consequences extend well beyond irritation of the eyes, throat and lungs. Fine particulate matter, particularly PM2.5, is small enough to penetrate deep into the respiratory system. Exposure is associated with respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular disease. Children, whose lungs are still developing, are particularly vulnerable. Older people, pregnant women and those with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions face additional risks. Daily commuters and people who spend prolonged periods outdoors are exposed as well.
It is happening to people we know: our neighbours, friends, children and parents. For the past few years, my son has had to attend online classes during the winter months. It is distressing to think that children should have to adapt their education to the quality of the air around them.
Restricting a few activities won’t clean air
Delhi's winter pollution is often discussed as though it were caused primarily by farmers burning crop residue in Punjab and Haryana. Stubble burning is undoubtedly a significant source of pollution during the post-monsoon period. It contributes approximately 14 per cent of Delhi's pollution, according to a recent statement by Aparajita Singh, the Supreme Court's amicus curiae in the air pollution case. But blaming the entire crisis on farmers is misleading.
Delhi's pollution is the consequence of several sources operating simultaneously. Vehicles contribute particulate pollution through exhaust emissions and the resuspension of road dust, a problem compounded by traffic congestion. Industries and power generation release harmful emissions. Construction activities generate substantial amounts of dust. The open burning of garbage, municipal waste, biomass and other materials adds to the pollution burden. Residential activities, including the burning of solid fuels such as wood and coal in some areas, contribute as well.
We cannot expect Delhi to breathe clean air merely by temporarily restricting a few activities during winter while allowing the underlying sources of pollution to continue unchecked.
Moreover, the problem extends beyond Delhi's administrative boundaries. The NCR and the wider Indo-Gangetic Plain form a connected airshed in which pollutants can travel across cities and states.
Are green crackers really green?
The Supreme Court's conditional permission to use green crackers during specified periods is intended to regulate the products, their sale and the hours during which they may be used. Green crackers are designed to reduce pollution compared with conventional fireworks.
But the word “green” can create a misleading impression. These crackers are not pollution-free. They are designed to reduce certain emissions through changes in their chemical composition and manufacturing processes. A reduction in emissions, however, does not make a product harmless. Green crackers can still release pollutants into the air. When thousands of people burst them simultaneously, the cumulative emissions can be substantial. The environmental consequences depend not only on the characteristics of an individual cracker but also on how many are used, where and when they are burst, and the prevailing weather conditions.
There is another problem. The effectiveness of the green-cracker regime depends on whether the products being sold are genuinely certified. Reports of counterfeit products and misleading claims have raised questions about the reliability of certification and enforcement. The gap between the intended environmental benefits and actual compliance is therefore important.
And who will enforce the designated hours for bursting firecrackers? For the past week—in fact, since immediately after Dussehra—I have heard crackers going off constantly in my neighbourhood. If this is happening before the permitted dates, what should we expect when the festival arrives?
Even if every cracker sold were genuinely certified and the Supreme Court's restrictions were followed to the letter, that would not establish that the widespread use of green crackers was environmentally harmless. The fundamental question remains: why add avoidable pollution to an atmosphere that is already hazardous?
Freedom to celebrate, the responsibility not to pollute
For many, Diwali is about family gatherings, religious observances, the lighting of lamps, the exchange of gifts and the joy of meeting friends and relatives. These are meaningful traditions that bring people together. But when a particular practice, such as bursting crackers, begins to impose serious costs on others, it deserves reconsideration.
The willingness to rethink a practice in the light of new knowledge should not be regarded as an attack on tradition. It should be seen as an expression of responsibility.
I do not wish to diminish the importance of Diwali. I only wish that we would pause to consider the consequences of how we celebrate it. So, this Diwali, let us quit playing the choking game. A few moments of excitement are simply not worth the lasting pollution and damage to health that we inflict on everyone.
The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth.
