Let’s celebrate festivals with more light, less sound

Representation pic

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday banned firecrackers on public roads day and night, stating that festivals must be celebrated without causing noise and air pollution, news reports stated.

The bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale, hearing the matter amid the Ganesh festival, said the use of loudspeakers, DJs and laser beams during religious processions was "completely unwarranted". To quote straight from a report, the judges quite rightly asked, "Are we going to get additional blessings from God by using all these loudspeakers and firecrackers? As a responsible society, we should put an end to all this," the High Court said.

Let us accept that bursting firecrackers on roads is dangerous, we have any amount of instances where people have been burnt, crackers have actually ignited fires in homes and many who have suffered grievous injuries as a result of cracker accidents.

Rockets entering homes, fires that are lit but slow to ignite, inviting people for a closer look and then, blowing up in their face and causing serious injury have been well documented.

Several pets too go missing during festive days, scared by the cracker noise. They hare away as noise erupts and cannot find their way home or simply run endlessly, wanting to get away from the noise and are, at times, at the other end of the city.

Let us not look at the judgements, objections to crackers through a communal lens. This is for the good of every citizen, obey, adhere and celebrate light, bright and most importantly, doing right.