Every Diwali schools across the city pledge not to use noisy crackers and rather stick to eco-friendly ones. Once back home,how many think about the environment? How many think about the air and noise pollution they create? Does anyone among us pay any heed to that ailing neighbour or do we think about the hazard fire cracker can pose? Quest asks students to think of ways to make this Diwali,the festival of lights and happiness,an eco-friendly one. The word eco means environment. The upcoming Diwali is termed as Kali Diwali. The reason is the excessive use of crackers. There was the recent news of Mumbai spenting Rs 600 crores on crackers. That is only Mumbai,think of the rest of India. For the enjoyment of a few people and for few hours is it worth wasting so much money? When many poor people sleep with empty stomachs,many are dying without medicine,many are sleeping in the cold on the footpath,I do not understand the logic behind spending so much money on crackers. The whole world is concerned about pollution and global warming. Crackers increase pollution and increase the temperature as well. The poor are the biggest sufferers. Rich people enjoy and poor people suffer as they do not have a roof above their heads and poor nourishment,thus making them suffer more. The administration also banned the sale of crackers in congested markets,narrow lanes and crowded areas. Even licensed fire cracker sellers would not be allowed to sell crackers in public places. They have been restricted from storing crackers in residential areas or private houses,failing which action would be taken against them. Prateek Thareja,IX-C St Angels Sr Sec School,Rohini Diwali signifies the end of darkness of ignorance and the beginning of light that enlightens us. For celebrating safe,secure and eco-sensitive Diwali,the first thing is to make ourselves aware about the effects the traditional Diwali celebrations on Mother Nature. Lighting,bright sparklers,the loud noise of firecrackers thrill people but is soon replaced by intense air pollution. The toxic substances used in the firecrackers release toxic gases and their noise is harmful to the health of all living beings,including birds and animals. The noise of crackers leads to hearing loss,high blood pressure,heart attack and sleeping disturbances. The festival of lights puts a considerably heavy load on electrical energy sources. The older tradition of burning oil lamps is a possible alternative to electric lights. It is now well understood that rituals and traditions should be celebrated with sensitivity to nature. Kanishka Garg,IX CSt Angels Sr Sec School,Rohini Diwali is the festival of lights. We light our homes with diyas and candles. We also light up the sky with lots and lots of fireworks. However,before bursting so many firecrackers,we should consider what great destruction we are causing to our lovely environment. The effect of firecrackers can be reduced if a community comes together to arrange fireworks,so that fewer crackers are bought and people can also enjoy together. Moreover,nowadays we use plastic to decorate our houses. Why dont we use flowers instead? Flowers have a beautiful aroma as well,which has another positive effect. If we do not want to beautify our houses with flowers,we can use old boxes and other material to make beautiful decorations. We have also started using electric lights to light up our homes that use up a huge amount of power; instead,we should use diyas to light up our homes.Ayushree Gupta,VII ADelhi Public School,Sushant Lok We celebrate Diwali in every part of India. As Lord Ram emerged victorious over Ravana,people of Ayodhya lit diyas,distributed sweets and shared happiness with each other. Diwali has taken on a different meaning with the times,where diyas has been converted to candles and now we reached a stage where candles have made way for electric lights,sweets have changed to dry fruits and chocolates and we share our happiness by drinking different alcoholic products. We burn a whole lot of crackers to show our joy but we have forgotten that we dont have fresh air to breath,we never care for others,there are so many people who die due to fire caused by crackers and drunken driving. We are yet to learn any lessons. My request to all is to celebrate a cracker-free,soundless,alcohol- and smoke-free Diwali.Taniya Rawat,V BSt Marys School,Safdurjung Enclave According to me,festivals should always bring harmony,prosperity and happiness to both the people and the environment,which means celebrations must be eco-friendly. Diwali is approaching. If we take a look at our neighbourhoods,everyone is busy in buying crackers. For the new generation,Diwali just means bursting crackers. Neither is it good for the environment,nor for people. Instead of having temporary fun,we can have long-term joy by using that money to help those poor children who work days and nights in the cracker factories for our pleasure. Moreover,an eco-friendly diwali cannot be celebrated by shouting slogans like Say no to crackers but by actually following it.Binusha Joycell,XI B St Angels Sr Sec School,Rohini Diwali,the festival of lights,is celebrated with great joy. It is the day when Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and defeating Ravana. On this day,we burst crackers but do we know what effect it has on our environment? It leads to global warming. Every Diwali,lots and lots of crackers are burst which release smoke. This smoke is inhaled by us and may lead to many lung diseases like asthma etc. We can prevent diseases by following a few simple rules. We should not stop celebrating Diwali completely,because in my opinion festivals bring relatives and friends together. To celebrate this joy,we burst crackers. This should not be done. Instead of this we should just light lamps. We can also make beautiful Rangoli. By observing these simple,eco-friendly practices we can celebrate Diwali wisely. Dhairya Shah,VI E Delhi Public School,Sushant Lok We all pledge that we will not burn crackers this year. Who doesnt take this pledge at school every year? Every one does,but the point is how many actually follow it. Hardly any. Back home everybody bursts crackers,not one or two packets but at least ten to twenty packets. Why? This year before burning even a single cracker,please think about those people who suffer from respiratory problems,your near and dear ones and your family members. You will automatically resist from lighting that cracker. The amount of pollution created due to these crackers has already increased pollution to alarming levels long ago. By burning more crackers,what are we doing to the environment? Please give a thought to the noise pollution created by your crackers. By not burning crackers you can take your first step towards the betterment of this planet.Harshita Mohan,XI A R D Rajpal Public School,Dwarka Diwali is a festival of lights,a time of happiness and joy. But that doesnt mean we can be happy only by lighting crackers. It can be celebrated in many ways: by visiting our friends,relatives,by preparing delicious food,wearing new clothes,having good time. Today our environment faces many threats. When we fire crackers,a large number of toxic gases affect our atmosphere. This leads to Ozone depletion. This makes our air polluted which we all breathe. Every individual must act towards protecting the environment. This can be done by using eco-friendly crackers. These are made up of recycled paper and the sound produced by these is under the decibel limit prescribed by the pollution board. Let us remember that Diwali was never about bursting crackers. It is a festival of lights and a night to worship Goddess Lakshmi.Mayank Sehra,XI-BSt Angels Sr Sec School,Rohini
