Mumbai:
Fireworks are undoubtedly a part of traditional Diwali celebrations but a temple in central Mumbai has decided to stop this practice as it causes air pollution and is instead distributing scrumptious breakfast to its devotees.
For years, Ram Mandir temple in Wadala had the custom of holding a fireworks festival that was a big attraction to young and old during Diwali. “We used to spend Rs100,000 (Dh6,713) on fireworks every year during this festival,” Ashok Nayak, one of the trustees of Ram Mandir, Wadala, told Gulf News.
“But this practice was stopped when one of the devotees at the temple, who happened to belong to a pollution control organisation, convinced us to stop bursting firecrackers as it was harmful to the environment.
“Realising how important it was for us to protect the environment, we heeded his appeal and started approaching everyone to shun firecrackers. We have been distributing pamphlets to schools in our area and, by next year, we want to carry out our environmental protection campaign on a larger scale by going to all the schools in Dadar, Wadala and Sion,” he said.
A notice has been put up at the temple premises asking people to shun fireworks and “what is interesting is that the tiny tots who visit the temple with their parents keenly listen to our appeal: that is ‘let’s enjoy cleaner air.’” Children also listen attentively when told that child labour, though banned, is involved in the making of fireworks.
This is the second year without fireworks and everyone is elated at the thought of contributing towards environmental protection, he says.
The money used to burst firecrackers now goes into distributing breakfast to devotees for a month during the auspicious period starting from Dussera.
Saying no to fireworks is not an easy decision but dealers say that this year’s sales are showing some fall in noisy fireworks even as a preference for colourful aerial fireworks and flowerpots has grown.
