The Supreme Court ban on fire crackers may not have had the desired impact on post Diwali pollution levels in Delhi and NCR but in Bhopal city residents appear to have taken the cue even without the stick falling on the Madhya Pradesh state capital.
According to the Diwali day data released by the state pollution control board, pollution levels in Bhopal have gone down in comparison to last level.
According to RR Singh Sengar of State Pollution Control Bureau, particulate matter of 10 micrometers or less (PM 10) in diameter has gone down.
"Till last year, we used to measure just PM 10 and that has gone down. This year, we also measured PM 2.5 and found that 75 per cent in PM 10 was PM 2.5 on Diwali day," Sengar said.
The Pollution Control Board did sampling at seven locations in Bhopal, out of which two were industrial areas, AKVN and Mandideep.
The pollution levels were observed to be within limits in both industrial areas. Last year, the Pollution Control Board had taken samples at three locations.
"The average pollution in Bhopal was within the prescribed limits and this was perhaps due to increased awareness amongst city residents," Sengar said.
The pollution levels went down even though state Home Minister, Bhoopendra Singh, had openly ridiculed Supreme Court for banning crackers. He also invited Delhiites to Madhya Pradesh to burst crackers on Diwali.
The government, on lines of the Union Environment Ministry's notification that banned high decibel crackers had banned manufacture, sale and use of crackers emitting noise levels exceeding 125 dB(A1) or 145 dB(C).
RSS General Secretary Bhaiyaa Ji Joshi, who was in Bhopal a day before Diwali too, had taken a dig at the cracker ban saying someone could raise similar objections to 'diyas' in the future.
Despite the Home Minister's invite to Delhiites, various campaigns for a green diwali were carried out by an active citizenry in Bhopal that seems to have clearly paid.
Seems like Delhiites really need to learn the art of being eco-friendly from Bhopal residents.
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