Less noise, more relief

BANGALORE: Thanks to extensive awareness campaigns, Diwali is less noisy this year and more and more children are saying ``no'''' to loud crackers.
Awareness level against pollution is building up, courtesy campaigns by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Urban Arts Commission, fire and police departments and many voluntary organisations.
The Sahayog Trust, in association with KSPCB, conducted a campaign for 1,200 students at Kumaran High School here on the need to paint and light `diyas'' rather than burst crackers and pollute environment.The Trust has constituted a team that will visit Jayanagar and Chamarajpet and award prizes to the best-lit houses ``which have burst very little or no crackers at all'''', Trust''s executive president Gita U.B. says.
Residents suggested to a team of judges __ comprising environmentalist Yellappa Reddy, dancer Rashmi Hegde Gopi, writer Vatsala Iyengar and Ikebana school owner Shyamala Ganesh __ that a central area like playgrounds be earmarked for bursting crackers, thus avoiding widespread pollution.
The Trust had done similar eco-friendly work during Ganesha festival too.
Bangaloreans who travelled to Hosur to buy crackers were surprised at the range of fancy crackers on sale this year. ``The decibel level has been maintained at 125,'''' observes a buyer. ``The anti-pollution groups have done a good job,'''' observes Riaz, a buyer from Sultanpalya, who praised the police for banning loud crackers.
``I''ve been telling schoolchildren they should not tinker with nature, particularly during such festive seasons,'''' says Prof. Mohan Sundarajan, who was earlier with the Asian Development Bank and is working in association with ISRO on a satellite project identifying natural resources that might be going wrong.
The number of fire accidents during Diwali this year have been less: Two cases at Victoria Hospital''s burns ward with 7 per cent burns each and none at St John''s Hospital till Monday evening.
Sridhar, district fire officer, told The Times of India that extra precautions have been taken this time in the light of the devastating fire accident at a cracker godown in Hyderabad that claimed the lives of many people.