Supreme court on firing crackers
Both common sense and popular opinion are against recent
Supreme Court judgements. Let me illustrate just one.
The order that crackers should not be fired beyond a
stipulated two hours during Deepavali is
based on the assumption that these cause air and noise pollution.
There has been no scientific study on how many air particles
are there in the atmosphere or in the stratosphere or in a given square
kilometre area and what is the level of pollution and how long the smoke which
always goes up continues to harm people. There is no finding on parts per
billion pollution or permissible level
of pollution.
Regarding noise, it is true that it exceeds the normal 60
dbl. But then it is only one day in a year. It used to be said that bear-biting
( the game of killing bears or boars in an open arena) was banned by Puritans (
a sect in Christinaity) in England between 1648 and 1660 not because it gave
pain to the bear but it gave pleasure to the Spectators as Puritans were supposed to be against any
enjoyment. Because of Puritan influence there was no cricket or tennis or
theatre on Sundays in England as late as 1980s.The pleasure the boys and even
adults get out of firing crackers cannot be equaled by any other thing.
I was in Coonoor this summer and I was aghast at the way the
steam engine puffs smoke right into the serene clean atmosphere of the hills
thousands of time between Mettupalayam and Ooty. Mind you, this happens twice a
day! 730 times a year! Compared to that , the smoke generated by the firing of
crackers on 1 day or 2 in 365 days is nothing. Noise is built into our culture.
Even if cracker noise is avoided; you
cannot escape other noises, for instance the TV debates. Noise is defined as
unwanted sound. When one eagerly looks for the sound of a cracker, it ceases to
be noise. Others ( a small section in
the 130 crores population ) who treat it as noise and not as a celebration are expected to show tolerance towards other cultures, as it
is only for a day or two.
Will the political parties stop celebrating their victories
with firing of crackers anytime they
like ? Cracks are fired even to receive
a neta from airport. Crackers are fired continuously
during miles-long funerals. If firing
crackers are stopped on these occasions successfully, one can think of
extending it to common man during Deepavali. (04/11/2018 )
