In the backdrop of the Supreme Court order on restrictions on bursting firecrackers, Green Deepavali movement has gained further impetus in Vizianagaram, the major hub for crackers business in North Andhra region.
With awareness programmes being conducted by a few professors, intellectuals and representatives of non-governmental organisations for the last few days, a
majority of the people are buying green crackers this year instead of fireworks that cause pollution.
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National Service Scheme (NSS) Vizianagaram District Programme Officer N.V.S. Suryanarayana, who has been promoting Green Deepavali with the support of NSS volunteers, said that Festival of Lights was always nature-friendly, but had been converted into a major threat to the environment.
"Green Deepavali does not mean sacrificing our happiness. In fact, it enhances the happiness and makes children know the importance and protection of environment. Now many people understood that usage of huge quantity of lead, barium, mercury, copper and other heavy metals in fireworks leads to air and sound pollution. Its absorption in the environment may lead to many health hazards," said Dr. Suryanarayana.
Founder of ASPIR, an NGO, G. Himabindu welcomed the Supreme Court’s order, which confined bursting of crackers to two hours on the day of Deepavali. "Bursting crackers till midnight is a major concern for patients and a disturbance to others. We requested the police department to give wide publicity about the court order and ensure punishment to the violators of the rule," she added.
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Vizianagaram Superintendent of Police G. Palaraju directed all police stations to implement the court orders strictly since it would ensure safety of the people too.
Sale of crackers
About 80 firecracker shops are located in Cantonment-Kanapaka-KL Puram route in Vizianagaram. Around ₹350 crore worth business takes place every year here, as many people of Odisha and Chattisgarh come here to buy crackers.
Firecrackers are supplied to other towns such as Salur, Parvatipuram, Bobbili, Gajapathinagaram and other areas. People from other districts such as Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam also come to Vizianagaram. The fireworks dealers, who have been observing the mood of the people and frequent orders of the Supreme Court, have stocked fireworks mostly with ISI mark. A majority of the dealers are procuring fireworks with ISI mark from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, they used to depend on local products, but stopped doing so with major fire accident that took place near Kanyakaparameswari temple in 1994. Although illegal cracker manufacturing still takes place in a few pockets, the demand for such products has come down drastically with the improvement in awareness about safety and pollution.
Welcomed
Sri Rama Fire Works head Ravva Srinivasa Rao hailed the Supreme Court’s order on green crackers and restriction of time , stating that two hours was sufficient for all the family to enjoy themselves bursting crackers. "Hardly one hour is sufficient. Each family needs to spend at least ₹10,000 if they want to burst fircrackers for two hours. The Supreme Court’s judgment is already being implemented indirectly as a majority of the people stopped buying bombs which cause heavy pollution," he added.