Sachin Tendulkar will bat against noisy Diwali

This Diwali, master blaster Sachin Tendulkar will appeal to school children to refrain from spending money on fire crackers and limit noise and air pollution during the festive season. He will be assisted by film actor Nana Patekar, world-renowned scientist Jayant Narlikar, social-activist Dr Prakash Amte and planning commission member Dr Narendra Jadhav.

This campaign by Harit Sena, a joint initiative of the social forestry department and Maharashtra Andhashradha Nirmulan Samiti (Mans) will send letters signed from these personalities to more than 8,500 schools in the state, appealing to them to stop using fire-crackers for a greener environment.

“Every year, around Rs500 crore is spent on firecrackers, which leads to massive pollution. Sachin and Nana are admired by children, and if they appeal to them it can lead to change,” said Sushila Munde, state conveyor of Mans.

The campaign will urge students and parents to fill up a form asking the student to save a certain amount by not buying crackers. The posters, signed by Sachin and others, will be distributed in schools after the Ganesh festival. The samiti estimates that it will be able to save Rs20 crore from being spent on crackers this year.

The 8,500 schools Harit Sena will approach comprise more than four lakh students. “We will ask the students to use this money for buying books, toys and sweets instead. They can even use it to donate essential items to the poor people,” said Munde.

Sachin was earlier seen in advertisements of the BMC, in which he campaigned to save water.

He had said that he had stopped using the shower since it wastes valuable water.