New Delhi /
A large number of Delhiites have supported the Supreme Court’s decision to ban firecrackers in the national capital whole heartedly, a survey conducted by the apex industry body Assocham on Monday revealed.
Welcoming the Supreme Court ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, many people in other urban centres have sought similar curbs to be imposed to bring down air pollution levels in their cities, a quick random survey conducted by the Assocham Social Development Foundation said.
While the apex court’s October 9 order raised many an eyebrows, with the likes of author Chetan Bhagat, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and the Confederation of All India Traders Association, 55 per cent Delhiites supported the decision, while 35 per cent termed it ‘unfair’.
Meanwhile, 10 per cent said the ban won’t have an effect — either on Delhiites or on pollution.
Releasing the findings of the survey, ASSOCHAM president Sandeep Jajodia said majority of the professionals said no source of pollution was too small to be ignored, when it came to public health concerns.
‘Banning sale of firecrackers is a very welcome move as smoke from fireworks is a common trigger for patients of asthma, respiratory distress, bronchitis, persistent cough, burning eyes, itchy throat and other related problems.
However, a majority of people seemed indifferent to the ban and said a judicious mix of command and control measures is the key to protect public health as pollution levels have only been going up from year-to-year during Diwali and questioned the relevance of such bans, the survey, conducted as part of Assocham’s corporate social responsibility initiative, said on Monday.
Many even said construction activity, road dust, vehicular pollution, waste burning and other such factors are majorly responsible for deteriorating air quality across most cities in India and the authorities should take strong measures to keep a check on rising pollution levels.
The social development arm of Assocham had interacted with about 1,500 people in 15 important cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Raipur and Ranchi. The survey was conducted during the last six days to ascertain the views of the people on the Supreme Court’s October 9 order suspending sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.
“Rising air pollution in cities is not just negatively impacting the environment but it might hit sectors such as tourism and outdoor recreation and others, thereby, severely hurting ‘brand India,’ as people largely avoid polluted areas with dense and toxic air,” said D.S. Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham.
Appreciating the efforts of communities involved in spreading the word against firecrackers, he said, schools along with resident welfare associations and those in the healthcare/ medical sector have been carrying out campaigns throughout the country with a view to sensitising people about the harmful effects of firecrackers, which has also led to growing environmental awareness.
About 35 per cent of the respondents said a ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR must be welcomed considering the need to avoid a spike in pollution to hazardous levels even though many of them opined that the effectiveness of such a ban remains to be seen.
FOLLOW INDIAN AWAAZ ON TWITTER