Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday wrote to 2000 educational institutions to join the government’s ‘So No To Crackers‘ campaign this Diwali-the Hindu’s festival of lights.
Sisodia, who’s also the education minister in Delhi government, said that the schools and colleges in Delhi should join this campaign to help government’s initiative in reducing air and noise pollution during the festival.
He said, “Chidren being in impressionable age and the budding citizens imbibe values and virtues easily from their educational institutions and they can in turn be instrumental in spreading the message of ‘no use of fire crackers.'”
He urged the institutions in Delhi to organise street plays, seminars and road shows to create awareness about the government initiative.
A study last year had highlighted a disturbing trend in the rise of asthma and other lung disease during Diwali.
An analysis of levels of various pollutants on Diwali day since 2010 revealed that the levels of some pollutants, including sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), rose alarmingly during the festival of lights.
The levels of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres), which have serious health implications as these tend to get lodged in the lung and can even enter the bloodstream, have been seven to eight times higher than the standard level for several years.