The stench of
gunpowder did not accompany a triumphant Rama when he returned to Ayodhya after
vanquishing Ravana. Firearms were not part of Krishna’s arsenal when he killed Narakasura.
The divinity of Kali simply required a machete to take down whatever came her
way. The goddess of wealth would be really inconvenienced by fireworks that
startle and daze her steed, the owl. Whatever one’s reason for observing
Deepavali or Diwali, the festival of light was always about earthen lamps, and
later candles and coloured matches.
Even in modern
India, few saw fireworks till the rich started importing sparklers from Europe.
Fire mud pots (aanar) were
manufactured in the 19th century Bengal but desi manufacturers truly
stepped in when imports were affected due to World War Two. From three in
1942, the number of factories rose to 189 by 1980. Today there are more than
500, mostly concentrated in Sivakasi. Nearly all of them pride themselves in
their noisy, noxious crackers.
Firecrackers, in
all likelihood, are a Chinese invention. More than two millennia ago, it was
accidental bursting of green bamboo chunks thrown into fire. By the beginning of
the last millennium, gunpowder was added to bamboo for a bigger bang. The
advancement in pyrotechnics was rapid in China and Marco Polo took the unique
art of fireworks to Italy in 1292.
Today, the firecrackers
(indeed all fireworks and much of it made in China) flooding our markets follow
the formula perfected many centuries ago: 75 % saltpetre (potassium nitrate),
15% carbon and 10% sulphur. When lighted, these chemicals burn with atmospheric
oxygen. The combination generates poisonous oxides of carbon, sulphur and
nitrogen. Heavy metals such as cadmium and lead are also released.
Studies claim that
during Diwali, the levels of these oxides rise more than 100 per cent. Exposure
to chemicals is a threat even while storing or carrying firecrackers. Thousands
of children and women toil for long hours in the sweatshops where these are
manufactured. Records across India show that every Diwali presence of suspended particles in the air shoots up
by 90-150 per cent, reducing visibility and suffocating us. The noise, well
beyond the threshold of human tolerance, traumatises the young, old, sick and
pets alike.
Our air
quality is already so bad that any trigger can lead to lethal smog. Lack of
wind speed and burning of millions of tonnes of wheat husk by Punjab farmers
(though incinerating agricultural waste is illegal) created a stubborn blanket
that hung over much of north India for the past two weeks. The smog threatened
to trip the northern grid that powers 28 per cent of India’s population in nine
states.
Smog moistens
transmission lines which soon become caked with deposits of airborne pollution.
If unchecked, this leads to short circuits and eventual tripping. Polymer
insulators can protect the wires but only few states have it in place. The
entire northern grid suffered due to smog and fog in 2008 and 2009. A major
collapse in 2001 took more than 12 hours to restore.
Experts fear
that the smog, and with it the risk of a blackout, will intensify after the
Diwali extravaganza which coincides with a likely western disturbance. Even
after the apparent clearing of smog over the last two days, the air quality
index that peaked to 920 earlier in the week – almost double the “critical” or “very
unhealthy” mark of 500 – still hovers around 350 or “very poor” level in the
capital.
The Delhi
Chief Minister has already appealed to citizens to avoid fireworks. The union
Environment ministry has taken up the issue of burning agricultural waste with
the Punjab government. Even the Supreme Court has stepped in with a bench
headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir promising to deal with the rising
pollution.
The threat is
not just about long blackouts and disruption of essential services. The Great
Smog of 1952 proved fatal for 12,000 Londoners in the months that followed. More
than 25,000 were affected due to aggravation or development of asthma, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, bronchitis and other
respiratory ailments. Every year, doctors all over India report a surge in these
cases on or after Diwali.
Suspended particulate
matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) directly enters the alveoli of the
lung. In hazy Beijing, the lung cancer rate has increased by 60 per cent in the
past decade though the smoking rate has remained mostly static. Chinese experts
feel that smog with high PM2.5 may soon replace smoking tobacco as the top risk
factor for lung cancer.
In the recent
years, a lot has been invested in awareness campaigns and in putting legal
restrictions in place to discourage firecrackers. Yet, Sivakasi alone sells R
900 crore worth fireworks, mostly firecrackers, every year though a state like
Punjab cannot raise R 400 crore for polymer insulation to safeguard the
northern grid against polluting smog.
Worse, while
we splurge over R 1000 crore in a noisy celebration spewing toxic fumes, the annual
budget (2011-12) for the National Pollution Control Board to clean up that mess
and more stands at a mere R 40 crore. The academic debates over who – the
Indian, the Chinese or the Arab – actually invented gunpowder will continue. But
we surely don’t have to be in a race to choke on it.
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