POLLUTION DUE TO FESTIVALS

SELECTION OF TOPIC:-
I have selected this topic to highlight the impacts on environment due to festival celebration.
To develop awareness among people to save our planet from various bad impacts of festivals.

HYPOTHESIS:-
Due to celebration of festivals pollution is increasing which is having many impacts on environment.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES:

1. To learn how to reduce pollution in our environment that is caused due to festivals.
2. To start using eco-friendly products to pave way for a healthier and more sustainable
environment.
3. To learn how different festivals have bad impact on our environment.
4. To learn what can be done to reduce the pollution in our environment.
5. To learn that festivals can be celebrated without polluting our environment.
6. To provide an incentive for manufacturers and importers to reduce adverse environmental
impact of products.
7. To reward genuine initiatives by companies to reduce adverse environmental impact of their
products.
8. To assist consumers to become environmentally responsible in their daily lives by providing
information to take account of environmental factors in their purchase decisions.
9. To encourage citizens to purchase products which have less harmful environmental impacts .
10. To improve the quality of the environment and to encourage the sustainable management of
resources.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:-
1. Name of Author:-Praveen Shivhare
Topic:-Environmental impacts assessment due to festivals.
Date:- 26 May 2016

2. Name of Author:-Deepak Rastogi

Topic:-celebrating festivals in eco-friendly way
Date:- 7 May 2016

3. Name of Author:-Ketaki Shinde

Topic:-Indian festivals and environment
Date:-9 Feb 2013

4. Name of Author:-Hari Sadhan Dey

Topic:-Bad impacts of festivals
Date:-5 Jan 2011
RELEVANCE
Pollution prevention is any practice that reduces, eliminates or prevents pollution at its source.
Pollution prevention is also known as source reduction .It is the ounce-of-prevention approach waste
management. Reducing the amount of pollution produced means less waste to control, treat or
dispose of. Low level pollution means less hazardous to public health and the environment.
Pollution prevention reduces both financial costs (waste management and cleanup)and
environmental costs (health problems and environment damage).Pollution prevention protects the
environment by conserving and protecting natural resources while strengthening economic growth
through more efficient production in industry and less need for households business and
communities to handle waste.
The healthier the environment the healthier the living beings. India is a land where the life of the
people is beautiful. Festivals are celebrated as a mark of changing seasons end of harvesting or as
honors to gods and goddesses. Festivals are also celebrated as birth anniversary of saints, gurus and
prophets.

Diwali:-
Diwali is called as festival of lights. It is very widely celebrated festival in India. The celebration
signifies end of darkness and is celebrated by bursting crackers. Unfortunately, every year the
quantum of air and noise pollution caused due to bursting of fire crackers increases in Diwali. Fire
crackers releases pollutants in air such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc
which causes ailments like asthma and bronchitis.

Holi:-
Holi is a religious Spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of colors. The
colors used in Holi are full of toxic chemicals. The natural colors are now replaced with chemical
hosed ones which are harmful to soil and cause soil pollution. Moreover wood is used for bonfire and
huge amount of water is wasted for playing holi and then washing the colors off the body and clothes.
Using fire crackers in large amount causes a lot of noise pollution. Fire crackers produce sound which
is much higher than the decibels tolerable for humans, animals and plants.
After discussing what could be the solutions for reducing pollution during festivals we have come to
know about various remedies which are listed as below:

1. Instead of individual celebration prefer community celebration. This will ensure reduced cost
of celebration; paper pollution in a limited space and as compared to individual celebration,
community celebration will cause less air and noise pollution.
2. Even while celebrating commonly make sure that you limit your celebration for a certain time
period. Time your celebration can last for maximum 3 to4 hours.
3. Instead of selecting traditional chemical crackers, this Diwali go for eco- friendly crackers.
Eco friendly crackers are made up of recycled paper and the sound produced by these
crackers is under the decibel limit defined by the pollution board. These crackers produce
paper fluffers and different color lights instead of sound bursting.
4. Instead of electric illumination go for traditional lightening of earthen lamps or diyas. This will
not only enhance the beauty of house but will also cut down the enormous electric
consumption. Though earthen lamps need oil but the quantity is less and it gives light for at
least 3-4 hours.
5. Cut down your shopping list and avoid purchasing of unwanted and unnecessary things this
Diwali. Excessive consumerism is directly related to the consumption of raw material used to
 manufacture those things. Excessive consumerism increases the undue pressure on the natural
resources.
6. Instead of buying “one time use” items go for recyclable things secondly while cleaning your
home instead of disposing things it is better to give it to under privilege people.

Since everyone can see that festivals are a religious thing but no one thinks about the harmful
effects, its causes on our environment. Bursting fire crackers on Diwali, submerging idols on Ganesh
chhaaturthi etc. are clearly polluting our air and water. Thus my project the points that have harmful
impacts on our environment.
Several states have announced permissible limit on bursting of fire crackers and use of loud speakers
and loud musical instrument played during festivals to reduce noise and air pollution. Ganpati
celebrations and Durga puja follow the tradition to immerse idols in water bodies. In the early days
these idols were made of natural substance like clay and natural dyes but now- a- days they are made
up of plaster of Paris and harmful chemical dyes. Celebrating festival is fun but we should also keep in
mind to keep the world a better place for the next generation to live. The environment is the natural
world which consists biotic and abiotic components. Therefore, it is the surrounding that affect the
behavior and development of a living being. The surroundings that affect the abiotic components of
nature too like air, water, light, soil etc.
Human beings are the products of environment .They are an important factor in the environment. It is
the environment that helps us for our survival, growth, development, reproduction and health. No
creature’s existence is possible without the balance of the natural elements. Thus, there must be a
healthy environment for our sound living. The healthier the environment the happier the living beings
including humans. However, knowing that the environment should be clean, healthy and non
polluted, the large scale celebrations of various festivals have degraded the quality of environment.
The practice of immersion of Ganesh idols after Ganpati festival in various cities is causing a severe
water pollution which leads to the death of tones in of fish and many aquatic creatures. The
immersion of Durga statues during Durga pooja is also a cause of concern for environmentalist in
West Bengal and Orissa. In Orissa alone 5,000 Durga pooja idols are made of which most of them are
painted by harmful paints.
Diwali is one of the important festivals in India has the distinction of polluting the environment to the
core. New borns and aged people have a high threshold experience because of the high levels of sound
caused by crackers during Diwali .Noise pollution on Diwali is between 69.7db and 88.3db which are
higher than the prescribed limit of 50 db. The decibel levels alarmingly high in metros and it may
reach up to 1000db the government police pollution control boards are suggesting many alternative
ways to celebrate festivals which do not pollute the environment. Even strict and stringent crackers
such as atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, bullet bombs thousand and ten thousand walls but it all solely
depends on the “change of mind”.

METHODOLOGY: -
Types of method:-
1) Experimental method
2) Survey method
I have selected the survey method.
DESCRIPTION: -
Questionnaire method I asked questions to the 10 people living in Shankar Bhavani area of society Sai
Laxmi about the problems they are experiencing due to the pollution in the area created by
celebration of festival.

Following are the questions:-

1) Do you think the idols are polluting the river?
2) Do you think Diwali causes a lot of air pollution?
3) Do you think fire crackers be banned?
4) Does Holi result in wastage of water?
5) Do you think the instruments played during vissarjan create a lot of noise pollution?
6) Should government implement laws for reducing the impact of festivals on environment?
7) Do you think that the way of celebrating festivals is changing with time?
8) By preventing celebration of festivals will it benefit our environment in any way?
9) Should we citizens be blamed for the nuisance created during the festival times?

Observation:
I observed that people held different views regarding the topic and reacted accordingly. I used
graphical method to show the responses of each question.

Observation Table:
Q. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes No
2 Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
3 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes
4 No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes
5 No Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
7 Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
8 No No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes
9 No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes

ANALYSIS:
I used graphical method to show peoples responses. People held different regarding the topic and
reacted accordingly.
RESULT:
The above hypothesis is true that due to festival celebration many problems are created and
they are having adverse effects on our environment my research suggested that some people are very
concerned about it and are taking steps to prevent it while some only blame the government for it.
Some people suggested that we can avoid bursting crackers and doing things that are affecting our
environment we can celebrate festivals in a simple way too while some were quite conservative about
their festival celebration method (way).

PROJECT REPORT:
A healthy and safe environment is very essential for all the living beings. Human activity is
responsible for the destruction of our environment due to celebration of festivals pollution is
increasing which is having many impacts on environment.
Many projects are being runned by NGO and many other organizations to reduce pollution and
help in the improvement of our environment They have many aims and objectives: such as :
1) To learn how to reduce pollution in our environment that is caused due to festivals
2) To start using eco-friendly products to pave way for a healthier and more sustainable
environment.

There are many researchers journalists who have written many articles about the increasing
pollution and how it can be controlled on individual level. As we all know, that our environment is
already in danger so it’s very essential for us to understand the need of reducing pollution many
articles have been published to spread the awareness I analysed the area where I live I asked many
locality people what all problems they face due to pollution and what they think they can do to reduce
it. Some responses were really appreciative, while some thought that it was just government’s
Responsibility to take care of pollution I analyses the trees, some plants in my locality the leaves were
covered with dust some were lifeless and thus looked unhealthy.
 Many government agencies are spreading awareness about this problem since decades.
Pollution is the root cause of many problems faced today such as ozone depletion which protects the
earth from the sun’s UV rays, Global pollution, Increased Disease Rate, etc.
On individual level we can stop bursting crackers during festivals, avoid playing loud DJS
wasting too much of electricity in lightening lamps, rather diyas should be preferred instead of
submerging idols in beaches oceans we can make some places where we can submerge them eco-
friendly. It’s not only governments duty to clean environment but ours too.