Diwali crackers: Is it okay to light fireworks sometimes?

Reasonable restrictions can be imposed on bursting crackers, and in fact are already in place, from the chemical compositions of crackers and safety in fireworks factories and shops to time limits for bursting crackers and permitted decibel levels. (Photo by Rakicevic Nenad via Pexels)

A belated Happy Diwali to all of you. We had a noisy one. I live in an apartment building which is one of just two in an entirely corporate office area of Gurgaon, and a bit distant from the thickly populated residential localities, so the din was muted. But one could make out that much of the Gurgaon population was happily bursting crackers, in violation of all court and government orders.

Our family has not had anything to do with any crackers for many years now. I have never been a fan of Diwali bombs. I grew up in Kolkata to the sound of “chocolate bombs”, which were the loudest, before they were overtaken on the Big Bang scale by the “box bombs”. In fact, I have an aversion to loud noise, including loud music. And of course, firecrackers cause pollution. For years, I have driven back home late in the night from Diwali celebrations through smoky roads.

But I support the bursting of crackers on Diwali.

Reasonable restrictions can be imposed and in fact are already in place, from the chemical compositions of crackers and safety in fireworks factories and shops to time limits for bursting crackers and permitted decibel levels.

One, just three days before Diwali, the Supreme Court banned all firecrackers that had barium compounds in them. Was this virtue-signalling? How on earth could this judgment be implemented in three days? No government anywhere in the world has the wherewithal to check the chemical composition of millions of products of hundreds of different types in three days.

Two, a 2022 IIT Delhi study titled “Chemical speciation and source apportionment of ambient PM2.5 in New Delhi before, during, and after the Diwali fireworks” found that air pollution shoots up during Diwali, but “the impact of the fireworks plummets within around 12 hours following Diwali”. The researchers concluded that the effect of farmers in neighbouring states burning their crop stubble on Delhi’s air pollution was much greater and lasted much longer.

In fact, according to Central Pollution Control Board data, through the night of Diwali, Delhi had a far better Air Quality Index score (though rated “poor”) than a week before, when stubble burning was in full swing (“severe”).

So why go after that one day of the year that people light up some stuff and make some noise?

The Supreme Court has now passed a judgment ordering state governments to shut down stubble burning. Does anyone believe that the Punjab government will do that?

Three, for many years now, upmarket English-medium schools have been drilling it into students’ heads that they should avoid creating smoke and noise in festivals like Ram Lila and Diwali. Activities like poster competitions are organized every year to promote “Silent Diwali”. Parents have fallen in line because they do not want to tell their children that it may be all right to defy their teachers a couple of days a year. Plus, it has become so much easier in the last two decades to guilt-trip globalized upper-middle-class Indians caught between civilizational heritage and subtly but powerfully propagated Western views.

Four, many Hindus—and not necessarily only BJP supporters—now see the government bans and court judgments as interventions limited to only Hindu festivals. Why don’t the courts ban the long and spectacular fireworks displays during Indian Premier League matches, they ask. What about Christmas?

A friend even mailed me reports about pollution caused by Christmas. In a 2019 article, Anthony Cox, Deputy Director, OECD Environment Directorate, quotes a 2007 report by the Stockholm Environment Institute based at the University of York, that said that the three days of Christmas festivities in the UK could result in as much as 650 kg of CO2 emissions per person, about 5.5 percent of their annual per capita emissions. And this is only the UK.

Things may of course have become much better since then. But larger numbers of people in more and more countries across the world have also taken to celebrating Christmas since then, so we do not really know. Cox says that more recent comprehensive studies have not been undertaken due to several factors, including “the risk of the author being labelled a ‘sustainability Scrooge’.”

I pointed out to my friend that the environmental impact of Christmas would be minimal in India, compared with Diwali. He argued that the same rules should apply to all festivals. Also, would any US court ever even consider banning the 4th of July fireworks under pressure from an environment activist group? My friend went on to say that this Diwali, he would be bursting more crackers than ever.

His is not just an isolated opinion. I saw tweets being shared hundreds of times that called for bursting crackers as a new “non-cooperation” or “civil disobedience” movement. I know several people and have heard about many others who returned to lighting crackers this time, after a gap of several years.

This Diwali, the proverbial silent majority appears to have made a lot of noise.