Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 05:16 PM IST
NGO: Green crackers fail to curb noise pollution
The firecrackers were analysed for their content with respect to harmful emissions after bursting and noise levels.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and NGO Awaaz Foundation Friday carried out tests of firecrackers available in the market for Diwali and found three of them to be violating noise level norms.
Activist Sumaira Abdulali of the Awaaz Foundation will be writing to the police, seeking a ban on the three firecrackers.
The firecrackers were analysed for their content with respect to harmful emissions after bursting and noise levels.
While recording noise levels, lars were found to be noisier than the prescribed limit of 106.5 dB.
Ms Abdulali said, “The noisiest was the 5,000 lar where sound levels were recorded at 121.3 dB, followed by the 1,000 lar. These create prolonged noise and are used extensively during Diwali in Mumbai. We will be writing to the police to stop the use of these firecrackers this Diwali.”
The NGO highlighted that even though green crackers were being encouraged, their use was restricted to reducing air pollution and not noise pollution.
Out of the 29 firecrackers analysed, 13 green crackers displayed in their packaging the absence of barium nitrate, which is the harmful element that causes air pollution. Ten out of the 29 did not mention the chemical composition.
Green crackers are those varieties that are prepared in laboratories with an aim to reduce emissions by 30 per cent.
As far as noise limits go, only 12 out of the 29 firecrackers analysed mentioned noise limits in their packaging.
“If we compare the sound levels of fireworks this year with those last year, there is no decrease in noise levels. The green crackers don’t help curb noise pollution. Even the overall emissions from these crackers can be recorded only after Diwali which will show how effective they are,” said Ms Abdulali. However, the activist added that the noise limits of firecrackers had decreased in comparison to the past five years where the sound levels had exploded to 140dB.
“We will be writing to PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation) to ban the firecrackers that we found violating guidelines,” said an MPCB official.
