Measures taken
to ensure safe Diwali in Navi Mumbai
By Dinesh Kamath
NAVI MUMBAI: All round preparations are being made by Navi Mumbai
authorities to ensure that no untoward incidents occur this time during the
Diwali Festival. Various steps and measures have been chalked out and will be
implemented to ensure a safe Diwali.
Mayor
of Navi Mumbai Sagar Naik has expressed his concern over construction of firecracker
stalls close to Coastal Regulation Zone. He said the he would not hesitate to
remove those stalls if they proved to be a threat to lives.
According
to the Mayor, no permanent constructions are permitted to come up around CRZ
areas. So also there could be a danger in letting temporary structures to come
up there, he added. “In that case I will issue an order for removal of those
temporary structures too,” said the Mayor. The mayor rightly pointed out the
danger that these structures would pose to surrounding environment and habitat.
The best thing is Mayor has the support of mangrove cell too which is blaming
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation for the springing up of those structures in
such sensitive areas. These structures have come up near the mangrove stretches
in Bonkode and Koparkhairane. The environment activists feel bitter about the
fact that same was the case during the last Diwali season and NMMC had not cared
to take any action that time. They wondered whether the same kind of attitude
will be displayed by NMMC this year too. They pointed to the rule which says
that there should be no such activities taking place within 50 metres of such
ecologically sensitive area. They had shown this rule to NMMC, police and the
forest department last year but no action was taken in this direction at that
time.
NMMC
commissioner Abasaheb Jarhad has made note of this issue and he has promised to
take appropriate action in this matter this time. The activists are happy about
the fact that they have at least received some kind of assurance this year.
This
exercise of constructing firecracker stalls had been taking place since few
years back. Initially very less number of stalls were being constructed here.
But as the time passed by the number of stalls began to increase and then it
didn’t fail to come to the notice of the environment activists who naturally
made a big noise about it. Firecrackers are supposed to be made of inflammable
items, and even a small explosion can destroy the stretch of mangroves around.
Also after the festival the place would be littered with all the unwanted waste
left over after the selling of the firecrackers.
When
the activists pulled up the fire department and asked them the reason for their
ignoring this issue, the firemen said that it was NMMC’s decision to let these
stall owners come up with their structures over there. The fire authorities,
however, did their job of ensuring that there was sufficient distance between
stalls, the rooftop was made of asbestos sheet and there were adequate
provisions like sand bucket, fire extinguisher available to fight fire.
To
instill the importance of preserving the environment even the students of Navi
Mumbai are encouraged to go eco-friendly this Diwali. Students are advised not
to resort to bursting crackers and it created pollution and adversely affected
the environment. In some schools in Navi Mumbai, eco-friendly Diwali was
celebrated where instead of crackers, the kids were made to draw Rangolis. This
was a move made by school authorities in a bid to keep the festive proceedings
safe and eco-friendly.
It
is good to teach the children right from their young age the danger posed by
bursting of crackers and the harms of noise and air pollution. The senior
students of the schools were made to create awareness about hazards of bursting
fire crackers among their younger counterparts. Circulars were issued and
meetings were held to inform the students that they should celebrate Diwali in
such a way that there is no danger to human lives and environment.
Even
students from Institute for Technology and Management, Kharghar, have made it a
point to go to every school and display their presentation on the safe ways of
celebrating the festival. They will encourage the students not to celebrated
the festival dangerously and they have come up with alternative way of enjoying
the festival.
The
police department of Navi Mumbai too is not lagging behind in ensuring a safe
Diwali. This time they promised to be very particular about the levels of noise
pollution caused by bursting firecrackers during Diwali. The sound monitors
have been distributed to police stations to record the level of noise pollution
in the areas within the jurisdictions of those police stations.
Law
permits bursting of firecrackers up to 55 decibels (dB) during the day and 45
dB at night. In commercial areas, the permissible limit is 65 dB in the day and
55 dB at night respectively. This time the policemen have promised to prevent
the violation of these rules. They will be supported by the Maharashtra
Pollution Control Board (MPCB) which will monitor the noise levels while the
action will be taken by police.
As
per the orders issued by Petroleum and Oil Safety Organization, the
manufacturers of fire crackers are supposed to display the chemical contents or
maximum permissible limit of sound pressure level on boxes of fire crackers.
The manufacturers are told to do this procedure before supplying the firecrackers
to the retail market.
Both
NMMC and the police should join hands to prevent the violation of laws. The
police should take action against the culprits and confiscate the illegal
firecrackers while NMMC should refrain from giving permission to sell such
firecrackers and that too at the wrong places. No licenses should be issued to
irresponsible firecracker vendors. Even awareness should be created among the
residents of the city who should be taught the harm caused by using loud
firecrackers, said activists. The judiciary should also cooperate and sentence
appropriately those who burst loud firecrackers.
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