Many wonder how people cannot understand the repercussions of bursting crackers.
A
day after Diwali,
there were searching questions and some anguish too as a hazy morning
dawned over the Delhi-NCR region, with many residents voicing their
helplessness at the violation of the Supreme Court's 8-10 pm deadline
of bursting firecrackers.
Delhi
recorded its worst air quality of the year on Thursday morning, with
the air
quality index jumping to 574 that falls in the severe-plus
emergency category -- meaning that even healthy people may suffer
from respiratory illnesses on a prolonged exposure to such air.
"Delhi
is a gas chamber for TB patients like me. We are caught in a bind. If
we escape TB, then we will die of pollution," Hasmukh Rai, a
senior citizen of Mayur Vihar.
"In
this season, when everybody is talking of bringing ordinances on a
variety of issues, why can't politicians join hands and bring an
ordinance to ban stubble burning?" he asked.
South
Delhi resident Sagarika Sharma said she had lost her mother to lung
cancer last year due to this hazardous pollution. "My mother was
not a smoker or drinker, but yes, she was guilty of living in Delhi."
Sharma
wonders how people cannot understand the repercussions of bursting
crackers. "I understand they want to celebrate, but at the cost
of digging one's own grave!"
Even
as the police launched a crackdown the violators and made multiple
arrests, several people said, for them, Diwali meant bursting
firecrackers.
"Since
childhood, we have been bursting crackers on Diwali. We do not
understand green or red crackers. What we know is that it is a symbol
of the festival for us and we will continue doing it," said
Himanshu Bhalla, a Gurgaon resident.
Another
resident of Lajpat Nagar, who did not wish to be identified, said the
order of the top court came out to o late and and she cannot forgo
the celebration of the festival over it.
Environmental
activists said the police needed to be supported by governments to
strictly enforce the ban.
"The
judiciary has given our executive the necessary tools. We request our
lawmakers to support our executive and all three arms of our
democracy to work together to protect citizens health at this time of
national health emergency," said Jyoti Pande Lavakare,
co-founder, Care for Air NGO.
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