Cops spread silent Diwali message among schoolkids

KOLKATA: The long running campaign to make Diwali as quiet as possible reached its final leg on Friday, with police making a strong appeal to students of 174 schools not to burst high-decibel crackers and be vigilant against offenders. 

The sustained campaign has met with success. There is a decline in the demand for banned high-decibel crackers sold clandestinely, said sources.

Police officers distributed leaflets in schools, listing out the harmful effects of high-decibel fireworks and citing horrible real-life experiences of people who have suffered when such crackers exploded. "Students listened patiently. If they fall in line, it would be a great achievement. High-decibel crackers are mostly burst by students aged between 8 and 18. If they can be made aware of the damages they cause, Diwali would be a lot more noiseless," said special additional commissioner (armed police) Debasish Roy.

"Please educate your friends and relatives about the irreparable damage that high decibel noises cause. There can be deafness, nervous debility and sometimes heart-attacks. Let Diwali be a festival of light, not sound," the officers told the students. "Next year, we plan to start the campaign earlier. We might even get some short films done on the disastrous impact of high-decibel crackers."

"The sale of noisy firecrackers reduced drastically this year. There is more awareness today, especially in Kolkata. People are worried about noise pollution," said Parvez Abdullah, owner of a fireworks company in Dum Dum. "The noisy ones made up just 10% to 15% of our sales this year."

Harish Mehta, who has been selling firecrackers for 26 years, agrees that the demand for noisy firecrackers is declining. "Earlier, 50% to 60% of our stock comprised loud crackers. Today, it's just 20%," he said, attributing this to better awareness and the availability of innovative noiseless fireworks

In both Nungi and Champahati, the variety of aerial firecrackers is increasing and there are many coloured varieties that are extremely popular. Pointing to a huge bag full of firecrackers in his back-room, Abdulla said, "I purchased them for Rs 5,000. About half of them are aerial firecrackers; the noisy ones make up only about 10%," said Mehta.

Security has been tightened at shopping malls and markets, and additional RPF and paramilitary units deployed at Metro railway stations.