Report on Awareness Programme on Deepawali Festival

Transcription

1 Report on Awareness Programme on Deepawali Festival CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD Regional Directorate (Central) 3 rd Floor, Shahkar Bhawan, North T.T. Nagar, Bhopal Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 0

2 Report on Mass Awareness Programme on Deepawali Festival Deepawali also known as the festival of lights, is a major festival in India and is celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervour. It symbolizes the age old culture of India. It teaches us to vanquish evil and to drive away darkness that covers the light of knowledge. Diwali, the festival of lights even today in this modern world reflects the rich and glorious past of India and teaches the whole world to uphold the true values of life. The word Diwali has come from a Sanskrit word Deepavali which means row of lights and indeed illumination forms are its main attraction. It is believed that on this day Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after an exile of 14 years. The people of Ayodhya celebrated the joyous occasion of Lecture on Eco-Friendly Deepawali the return of their favourite Lord by cleaning their house, distributing sweets and lighting the houses with earthen diyas. So people illuminates their houses in order to welcome their lord and have a massive celebrations. Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness. Diyas (clay lamps) are lit to chase away the darkness of ignorance and welcome the bright light of enlightenment. However, in our zest to celebrate this festival, there is a tendency to go extravagant and taken a toll over not only the environment, there is an increasing concern over environmental pollution and the safety issues involved in making and bursting fire crackers. Firecrackers are traditionally perceived as being the highlight of Diwali celebrations. Simple sparklers have now given way to elaborate fireworks that can light up the entire sky above your home. Most people believe that greater the fireworks, better the celebrations. Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 1

3 Fire crackers contain a large amount of toxic substances which affect people in different ways as follows: Copper : Causes irritation in the respiratory tract, which leads to respiratory ailments. Cadmium : Reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of blood, leading to anaemia. It also causes kidney damage. Lead : Lead in the body has a harmful effect on the nervous system. Magnesium : Magnesium fumes cause a condition known as metal fume fever. This is a fever accompanied by a metallic taste in the mouth. Zinc : Also causes metal fume fever. In addition, it also induces vomiting. Celebration of Deepawali Festival Sodium : Sodium is a highly reactive element. It combines with moisture in the air and on the skin, causing burns. These toxic substances are not just harmful to human beings, but to all living creatures. They tend to remain in the atmosphere for extended periods. So their harmful effects are experienced long after Diwali celebrations are ended. Fireworks produce a lot of smoke, when they are burnt. Apart from being a source of toxic fumes, the smoke also causes great discomfort. On the day of Diwali and the following days, the particulate matter in the atmosphere is at its pinnacle that can attribute to serious health issues. Bursting of fireworks add to the pollution level and its health impacts remain for several days. It also severe air and noise pollution which poses serious health hazards. The noise produced by crackers is extremely hazardous to Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 2

4 health. Sudden noise leads to annoyance, aggression, hypertension, high stress levels, hearing loss and sleep disturbance Most fireworks are made by factories which employ children as labourers. These young children are forced to handle the toxic substances that go into these crackers. As a result, they contract diseases associated with these substances. Since Diwali is a festival of lights, people decorate their homes by lighting them up. Electric lights are used to decorate entire homes, offices, and roads. This places a huge load on the power supply system. It is better to switch to the traditional oil lamps. Even though they consume oil, these lamps are usually used only for a short time. Diwali is also associated with wealth, people purchase goods at an auspicious time resulting in wastage of precious natural resources used for making these items. In addition, most of these items are non degradable and when they are discarded, they lie in landfills and garbage dumps for years. Lecture on ill-effects of Fire Crackers Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in its previous studies observed that the noise levels were found above the prescribed limits during Diwali festival. Hence, CPCB had prepared a comprehensive plan to create public awareness to ensure minimizing the pollution levels by restricting use of the fireworks and publishing its associated adverse health impacts. The Hon ble Supreme Court in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 728/2015 regarding air & noise pollution due to fireworks on the eve of Diwali has directed the Government to give wide publicity to the ill effects of fireworks and encourage teachers to convince their students not to buy and Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 3

5 use fireworks. Accordingly, the Hon ble Supreme Court has directed as follows : The Union Governments and all state Governments will give wide publicity to the ill effects of fireworks and advise people to be cautious accordingly. The Teachers, Lecturers, Asst. Professors, Professors of the Schools and Colleges to educate the students about the ill effects of the fireworks and to restrict its usage. Restrict window for use of fireworks to be from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Resident Welfare Associations to hold community fireworks for brief period of 30 minutes on a single day. CPCB for last few years is continuously creating public awareness towards the high noise levels generated during the bursting of the crackers and its associated adverse health impacts. Noise standards for fire crackers have been notified vide GSR No.682 (E) dated 5th October, 1999 under the Environmental (Protection) Act. As per this notification, the manufacture, sale or use of fire crackers generating noise levels exceeding 125 db (AI) or 145 db (C) at 4 meters distance from the point of bursting are prohibited for individual fire crackers. For fire crackers in series, these noise limits are suitably made more stringent depending upon the number of crackers in series. Fire crackers shall not be used at any time in silence zones, as defined in S.O (E) issued on by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Observing that the Right to Sleep is a fundamental right, the government of India has banned firecrackers between 10 pm and 6 am, on Diwali. Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 4

6 The Supreme Court suspended the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and NCR till November 1, 2017 in a bid to test whether a Deepavali without firecrackers this year will have a positive effect on the health of citizens and a steadily deteriorating air quality. The Madhya Pradesh government in view of notification issued by the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest, the manufacturing, sale or use of crackers which generate noise levels exceeding 125 db (AI) or 145 db (C) will be banned. Following the Supreme Court s instructions, the Madhya Pradesh government has also prohibited use of all noise-emitting crackers from 10 pm to 6 am. State authorities have requested the people to use crackers under mentioned noise level and to dump the waste generated by the crackers separately. The Chhattisgarh government has imposed a ban on the use of firecrackers with high decibels and those highly contributing to air pollution during Diwali. Besides, a special public awareness campaign will be undertaken seeking support of people to prevent air and sound pollution during the ensuing festival. Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) issued circular to all division commissioners, collectors and superintendents of police has asked them to take effective steps to ensure restriction on sale and use of high decibel firecrackers in their respective areas. Officials have also been asked to undertake public awareness campaign to apprise people with the ill effects of crackers besides informing them about air and noise pollution. School students should be associated with the campaign. Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 5

7 In compliance of the above this office has also conducted awareness programmes during to to create awareness among the school children along with teachers and school staff and to give wide publicity on ill-effects of fire crackers and environmental pollution. Efforts were made by the office to educate and sensitize the school children, teachers and school staff towards air pollution and noise produced by crackers which is extremely hazardous to health and could also harm them personally. Since children strictly follow the directions and messages given by their teachers thus more thrust was given on the teachers as they can bring a remarkable change by inspiring hundreds of students take eco-friendly initiatives to reduce environmental pollution. Under the mass awareness programme various activities such as Demonstration of Air Pollution and Noise Measuring Devices viz. Repairable Dust Sampler (RDS), High Volume Sampler (HVS), Handy Sampler & Noise Level Environmental Quiz during programme Meter (NLM), Group Discussion and Environmental Quiz among the school children were organized to deliver the message for celebrating Eco-friendly Diwali. During the Mass Awareness Programme few schools of Bhopal viz. Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2 Bhopal, DAV H.S. School Bhopal, Govt. Chandra Shekhar Azad Middle School Bhopal, were visited and the awareness programme was organized successfully. Prizes were distributed among the winners for the Environmental Quiz conducted during the programme. The awareness programme conducted by this office in schools Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 6

8 were highly appreciated by the school authority and the Appreciation Letters were also provided by the school authority to this office. Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 7

9 In public interest an advertisement was also released on behalf of CPCB & MoEF&CC to make Eco-friendly Diwali in colour format in leading Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar edition Bhopal, Jaipur and Raipur on October 19, A Press Release Note was also released on behalf of CPCB, Regional Directorate (Central), Bhopal appealing public to make Eco-friendly Diwali and to reduce pollution caused due to Diwali celebrations in local Hindi newspapers. The Regional Directorate (Central), Bhopal is continuously making efforts to ensure that people enjoy a safe and pollution free Diwali through awareness programmes and inspiring the students not to burn firecrackers for safety of environment & health and also educating them about reuse of waste material by promoting the concept of the three R's i.e. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Here s wishing everyone a Happy and a Green Deepawali. Rashmi Thakur Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 8

10 Glimpses of mass awareness activity. Diwali mass awareness, RD Bhopal 2017 Page 9

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