HYDERABAD, NOV. 6. With the festival of lights, Deepavali round the corner the Directorate of National Green Corps in association with the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board is taking up a campaign against noisy crackers for more environment friendly celebrations.
The campaign is to be taken up by schoolchildren all over the State under the aegis of the National Green Corps with the slogan: "Indiscriminate use of crackers is hazardous to public health." The NGC Director, W. Prasanna Kumar, told presspersons here on Saturday that crackers producing sound levels of above 85 decibels cause noise pollution.
"The sound effect of chain crackers with 100, 500 or 1,000 sticks can lead to temporary or even permanent shift in hearing capacities and is not good for those with blood pressure.
It can also lead to deafness straightaway in some cases," he warned. The Director points out that traditionally, Deepavali has been a festival of lighting up traditional lights, which unfortunately, in the course of time has been taken over by loud firecrackers and electric lights.
"The fire crackers cause both noise and air pollution," he said. At an average most crackers cause 125 decibels, which is said to be the permissible limit, but the chain crackers have a battering effect and cause much damage.
As part of the campaign, the sound levels of different crackers would be demonstrated and ill effects explained during the District Science Fair to be held at Kapra from November 9 to 11 to be attended by NGC students. They are drawn from about 12,500 schools. Students would be informed about the permissible sound levels at different areas.
Along with the Science Fair, seminars are also being arranged on noise pollution in collaboration with ENT specialists from the city for alerting school teachers on the health effects of exposure to noise pollution. These seminars would be held at Khairatabad on Nov.9, Himayatnagar on November 10 and Ameerpet on November 11.
Mr. Prasanna Kumar said the results of the campaign would be placed at the workshop-cum-exhibition to be held on December 1 and 2 where schools would make presentations on their efforts towards reducing noise pollution during Deepavali, controlling vehicular pollution and energy conservation. The best entries would be sponsored for a trekking expedition in Rishi Valley, he added.
