Was Delhi Smog was really due to Diwali's Pollution?
Do you see this? Doesn't it look like a surreal town in the Himalayan kingdom where the clouds cut through the hills? Except that this isn't any Himalayan town or hill station.
This is river Yamuna filled with foam from toxic effluents drained into the river from Industries. In times of the growing intolerance debates, we are pushing the tolerance limits of the most tolerant creation- our mother earth. Diwali fireworks did not do this.
Image source : sceptical science.
The exponential rise of carbon dioxide levels shows how dangerously we are leaving this planet for the next generations.Does diwali celebrations affect us?
Certainly, yes.But but…. Why don't you speak up when fireworks are used in new year celebrations in the united states or elsewhere?
Blame game never gets us anywhere. Yes it's cruel to takeaway the joy of one day's festive celebration or takeaway the jobs of all those sivakasi workers but while we are too busy pointing our fingers, environment might end up showing us the middle finger.
It doesn't matter if you are Hindu, Muslim or a Christian, when the time comes , everyone is screwed equally.
So what should we do?
Yamuna was not polluted overnight due to diwali's celebrations. It was the result of unsustainable industrial practices.The air in Delhi has high particulate matter due to burning of agricultural waste. Do we have to blame the farmers? Hell No! It is the duty of our elected governments to provide alternative disposal mechanisms like diverting the waste as feedstock or for producing biofuel.Banning crackers is not a practical solution- rather regulating the standards and low smoke crackers would be a solution. Diwali is the festival where good triumphs over evil. Let us all fight the evil amongst us to save the good mother earth.Long term measures include a robust ecofriendly public transport system that is accessible to all. Not like the one below. Our lives are too complicated to stop using fossil fuels and vehicles. We can only count on our governments to create those robust transport systems.
Nobody is going to clean our mess. We have to do it ourself. Our job doesn't end at electing leaders. It begins there. We need to go through a boring process called participative democracy to see results , say 15 years from now.
