Compliance test cancelled a week before Kali Puja, cloud over green status of fireworks
Times of India | 25 October 2024
Kolkata: The green fireworks testing scheduled for Thursday could not be carried out as the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) scientists categorically stated that green fireworks can only be tested in a closed environment of a laboratory and not in the open. The only such facility is at NEERI headquarters in Nagpur where all such testing are carried out, a NEERI scientist said.
The cancellation of testing left a big question on compliance of fireworks with specifications on green fireworks that NEERI had laid down. The Supreme Court has allowed celebration for two hours on Diwali with only green fireworks. NEERI claimed that complete compliance with the NEERI formulation can reduce the emission level by 30% compared to conventional firecrackers and also reduce noise level.
In last two years, NEERI has trained several fireworks manufacturers to make green fireworks. However, only a test could ascertain whether such fireworks complied with the green formulation to limit both emission and noise levels.
Following the cancellation of the test, environmental support group Sabuj Mancha that has been campaigning against noise demons unleashed during Diwali that left elderly people, kids, birds, animals and biodiversity in dire distress demanded an extreme measure — a total ban on fireworks.
“Our environment is already under dire stress. Under such circumstances, high-decibel, high-emission fireworks passing off as green fireworks will only exacerbate the crises. The pollution level will peak. We thus demand a total ban on fireworks,” said Sabuj Mancha general secretary Naba Dutta.
ENT specialist Dulal Bose, who had chaired the WBPCB-constituted panel to limit the noise level of fireworks to 90 dB, said, “The ambient noise level of 40 dB is the most conducive for our very sensitive auditory system. However, we have seen that the ambient noise level often breached 110 to 120 dB during Diwali, causing irreversible damage to many organs. The impact on the person who lights fireworks is maximum. It is high time we shun this noisy and high-emission celebration.”
“People with respiratory issues must be careful and stay safe indoors,” said pulmonologist Arup Halder.