It seems this Diwali will be a quiet one without the mindless bursting of loud firecrackers. Vendors within Thane district have noticed a 30% decrease in sale of fire crackers and many youngsters have also pledged to celebrate a silent Diwali this year.
Growing awareness about air and noise pollution heightened due to this activity, has resulted in a dip in demand, say sellers. They have also noticed that people prefer crackers that emit lights and not much sound.
"With every passing year, people are growing more aware about the hazards of bursting crackers and hence ask for crackers that create less noise. This awareness is more evident among children, perhaps because they are taught in schools. However, a negative repercussion of this practice is that it has affected our business. Though we have stocked up on products that are not noise-intensive, the sale of crackers have decreased by 30%. We are hoping that the last few days til the festival will benefit us as more people will buy them," says Rupesh Dalvi, chairman, Thane district Firecracker Sellers' Association.
Meanwhile, many youngsters have pledged to not burst crackers at all this season, "Just for tradition's sake we will light the sparklers. We are spreading this message among other friends and societies in the vicinity also. There are many senior citizens in our society we want them also to enjoy the festivities and not shut doors and windows in fear of loud sounds," says Yogesh Awasarmol, resident of Devashree Gardens.
"People do not mind buying expensive ones, if it has less sound and beautiful colours. The trend is changing now; earlier people used to look for sound rather than colour. We witnessed a 10% drop in sales last year and this year it has increased. Hence we are skeptical whether our business will survive next Diwali," says Hanif Ghia, who has been selling firecrackers for a decade in Thane.
Paresh Gandhi, resident of Vasant Vihar, says, "My 8-year-old son asks only for firecrackers which do not emit much sound and he is not eager to buy more than one packet of a variety. This is a very good sign that he is becoming aware of the negative effects of bursting crackers at such a young age."
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