As India is gearing up for the festival of Diwali amid the pandemic, to the dismay of many, several states and UTs across the country have banned bursting of fire crackers. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday issued notices to 18 states and UTs including Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland where air quality is beyond norms.
Rejecting the NGT plea, Assam government on Friday and permitted use of firecrackers in the state during Diwali.
As reported by Nagaland Post, Nagaland has decided to put a ban on sale an use of fire crackers in the state in the interest of public health and environment that too amid the pandemic. Although, no official notification has been issued yet.
Although Sikkim was not among the list of NGT, the state government itself imposed a blanket ban on bursting of any type of fire crackers. This move will not only reduce air pollution, but to also safeguard the health of the recovered patients of Covid-19. The official notification issued stated that as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state are declining, it would be best to not pollute the air with crackers which may become inconvenient for the Covid patients.
There has been no notification from state governments of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura yet on the issue.
As the nation is being ‘vocal for local’, this year the country might witness extensive use of local decorative products for celebrating the festival of lights.
Going on the lines of ‘Vocal for Local, a woman from Manipur has been spinning yarns from lotus stalks. Read the story here.
(Feature image source: India.com)
