India's capital has been experiencing an unnatural and disturbing event for the past five days “ hazardous mix of noxious gases and respirable pollutants creating havoc among its citizens and sending a wave of panic across the nation.
The Centre's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) on Monday recorded the level of respirable pollutants, PM 2.5 and PM 10, at 283 and 517 micrograms per cubic metre respectively.
The prescribed standards of PM 2.5 and PM 10 are 60 and 100 respectively, and anything beyond that can harm the respiratory system as the ultra fine particulates can embed deep into the lungs and also enter the bloodstream.
In this backdrop, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Margao, Ajit Panchwadkar called for a meeting with the owners of dance halls in Salcette in a bid to enforce a ban on fireworks and confetti at wedding ceremonies across the state. The attempt was made to prevent Goa from facing Delhi's current scenario in the near future.
But are weddings really the biggest contributors? Goa's youth share their opinions.
QUOTESS
I think the pollution caused by weddings is minimal. The main cause of air pollution today is the increase in number of vehicles. Everyone should think about the environment and take public transport as often as possible or car pool to work. Secondly, the people should stop burning plastic and begin recycling it. People should also reduce the use of firecrackers during major festivals.
David Aguiar, 28,
Curbing fireworks at weddings is definitely a good idea, but this alone doesn't really cover the major part of the problem. Most of the fireworks induced pollution is not at weddings but at festivals. Personally, I think the public use of fireworks is harmful and polluting in multiple ways and should be stopping entirely. It could be done by the state on days of celebration, and should require official permission for major events.
Aarati Joshi, 20, Panaji
Fireworks have no actual purpose during a wedding ceremony nor does confetti which according to me is rather frivolous. One of the major reasons for pollution all over is fireworks, I feel that this needs to be stopped right from its production. While at Catholic weddings these may be the major concerns, at Hindu weddings during the 'yagna', the smoke created could also be kept under control.
Gayatri Honawarkar, 20, Vasco
Such measures are a good step towards a pollution-free state. The use of fireworks needs to be reduced drastically or else our situation will be much worse than in Delhi. Also thousands of people attend weddings, the usage of cars from one locality to another could definitely be reduced by carpooling.
Joshelle Dantas, 20, Margao
It's deplorable on our part to have waited to see the repercussions before taking any action whatsoever. However, it's better late than never. What we are seeing at Delhi isn't something different or something that happened by chance. What's ironical is that it's a joke now with all the memes about the smog at the Taj Mahal. It's high time we realise that the impact of our actions is not going to be impactful for another 15-20 years. It's all right infront of our eyes. It is great that we as Goans are making an effort on our part to prevent further pollution. My wish is only this, that the rest of our country understands the effort and follows suit.
Shreya Jain, 20, Margao
