COMETH DIWALI, COMETH POLLUTION CONCERNS! WHERE’S THE TANGIBLE SOLUTION?

• The Indian national capital, New Delhi, finds itself at the center of conversations during the days leading up to the festival of lights, Deepavali. The conversations are not focused on how to celebrate the most endearing festival in the right spirits, but on how to curb the pollution caused by the crackers that are an integral part of the celebrations themselves. It’s unimaginable even to think of Deepavali being celebrated without bursting crackers. However, the national capital region (NCR) is in the midst of tackling growing pollution concerns before the onset of the winter season is a fact which cannot be camouflaged or brushed under the carpet. The moot point to ponder over here is whether exhorting people to go slow on bursting crackers would really help.

PC: The Hosteller

• Further, why do the government authorities always tend to react in the old-fashioned knee-jerk reaction way rather than implement tangible measures to address the perennially recurring situation permanently? Sadly, another Deepavali is around the corner, and another round of litigating how to do it right is underway. Why only NCR, many other urban centres of the country are facing the same situation. A large constituency of unwell citizens and those with children and pets who are scared by firecrackers or find breathing hard in the wake of smoke, are dreading the onset of bad air. Of course, the apex court itself has been deeply engaged in this conversation for a decade, as have several government bodies, civic organizations, and business lobbies.

PC: AajTak

• However, here we are yet again, relitigating the same issues all over again, just as we did last year and the year before that. Doesn’t the NCR ban on firecrackers hurt the spirit of Deepavali? Shouldn’t green firecrackers at least be permitted? But is there any such thing as a firecracker that’s green at all? Isn’t it a false impression being created that these are environmentally safe? But where is the data showing that it’s the firecrackers that cause the bulk of Deepavali pollution? Round and round we go, as if determined to make no progress whatsoever. If the stop, start, and knee-jerk measures are helping, we are not doing any proper measuring of them. What about the emissions caused by various other sources of pollution, including vehicular and construction?

PC: India Today

• Mind you, from the BJP to AAP, the past years have seen different political parties pass the buck, without wholehearted focus on finding a way out. If NCR is set on a green firecracker path this Deepavali, it will be with the full foreknowledge that all kinds of pollution will fly through this net. Testing infrastructure is absurdly inadequate to cover all the points of sale. The consensus that’s been missing so far is not going to drop from the smog tomorrow either. Yes, the role of constitutions as enabling politics, which in turn is a process of deciding on rules, such that even the losers accept as legitimate. Restoring our rivers, forests, air, and soil to health will certainly not be cost-free. But the costs of failing will be nightmarishly higher. The authorities should realise this.