Expensive crackers lead to noise free Diwali
Diwali! The festival immediately forms an image of lighting, sweets, decorations and last but not the least crackers in the mind. This year there was not much pollution in the air and Diwali seemed less ruffled and quiet. The festival of lights, Diwali was cleaner and more tranquil this year. Is it because the price of firecrackers soared high or because of financial constraints? Is it because of lot of awareness about the environment? Well, the reason may be any of these, the fact is this year Diwali was witnessed as less noisy and pollution in the air was far less.
The noise pollution level was found to be about 112 decibel (db) during the peak hours of cracker bursting; this was within the allowable limit. Notably, the allowable limit of the noise during the bursting of crackers is between 125-145 db.
According to data provided by Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), noise levels during Diwali in 2009 were “generally lower” than during 2008 possibly because of “bursting of lesser number of crackers,” pointed out regional officer UPPCB, Radhey Shyam. However, the data was based on the monitoring of the noise pollution and that the levels of air pollution could be confirmed after getting the analyzed data.
Dr S V Singh, Prof and head, Entomology department, CSA University pointed, “Although there is not much impact on the mosquitoes, the population of insects attracted by light gets reduced significantly. Generally, Diwali is always the time from when we see a downward trend in the population of insects as most of them die due to the pollution that day.”
He explained that since the insects breathe through perforations on their body, they take in vast quantities of pollutants. “On a typical Diwali day, this normally proves fatal for them. Thus, the insects and pests, which can otherwise be harmful to the crop, die due to bursting of crackers,” he concluded.
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