As winter descends, Diwali festivities in India worsen the country’s already severe air pollution crisis. The cold winds trap pollutants in the atmosphere, contributing to India’s consistently poor global air quality rankings. Bhubaneswar a major eastern city, the capital of Odisha, recorded a PM2.5 level at a staggering 81.37 µg/m3—nearly 17 times higher than the World Health Organization‘s safety limit of 5 µg/m3. This alarming trend poses significant public health concerns.

Investigating People’s Perspective:

Despite the administration’s on-paper regulations and penalties for illegal fireworks activities, the lack of public awareness about green crackers during Diwali remains a significant issue. To address this, the government is making efforts to make green crackers mandatory for all over India. Green crackers with the CSIR-NEERI logo and a QR code certifying their eco-friendliness. These are devoid of toxic barium compounds and create 30% less pollution. 

The research team at SwitchON Foundation conducted a cross-sectional survey throughout the markets accommodating licensed  vendors in Bhubaneshwar to gain insights into the public’s perception of “Green Diwali”. The study was focused on engaging potential buyers of green crackers. Subsequently, flash surveys were executed with the respondents at the Baji Bazars between the 7th and 8th of November, with a sample size of 111 random individuals consisting of 94 male and 17 female participants. The findings and conclusions are listed herein:

Findings:

• 54% of the surveyed individuals expressed uncertainty regarding the purchase of green crackers. This uncertainty stemmed from either an inability to recognize green crackers, accounting for 47% or a flawed understanding of identification methods, comprising 7%. (Figure 1).  42% of city dwellers were able to correctly identify green crackers with the intent to purchase.

Figure 1: People’s awareness of green crackers identification in Bhubaneswar

• 68% of the respondents clearly understood that green crackers are the only allowed crackers in the state (Figure 2). 

Figure 2.: People’s awareness of the permission and ban on crackers in Bhubaneswar

• There was moderate awareness (66%) regarding the ban on traditional crackers and  (68%) on the permission to burst green crackers only (Figure 2).
•  70.3% of people responded that they would possibly buy the green crackers at  premium pricing, while 29% refused to buy highly-priced crackers on the spot (Figure 3).

Figure 3: People’s Opinion on premium-priced green crackers

• 96% of respondents have accurate knowledge of the timings, i.e 8 pm to 10 pm, and the rest of the 4% of respondents  either do not know of the existence of such timing or they were not properly informed and tried to blindly guess the timing (Figure 4).

Figure 4: People’s awareness of the timing of bursting crackers

• Based on all the parameters being countered to the people, a best-case scenario evolved wherein only 16% of the survey population attained perfect response; with a gender distribution of male: female of 18% and 1% respectively. The study elucidates that this small group of city dwellers in Bhubaneswar is aware of the permission of green crackers, the ban on traditional firecrackers, and proper identification of green crackers as well as the right time to burst green crackers in the city. Additionally, they will opt for green crackers even if those are premium-priced.

The Air Quality Status and Impending Risks during Diwali:

The average daily Air Quality Index (AQI), PM2.5, and PM10 levels in Bhubaneswar have consistently remained within the Moderate range, except for a brief period of approximately 4 days when they temporarily exceeded this threshold due to overcast weather and some precipitation. The highest recorded daily mean AQI was observed on October 31st, reaching a value of 183, with average PM2.5 and PM10 levels measuring 84.97 µg/m³ and 136.81 µg/m³, respectively. These values significantly exceeded the permissible limits of 50 µg/m³ for PM2.5 and 100 µg/m³ for PM10. It is evident that the arrival of winter, along with the resumption of normal city activities and the use of firecrackers, may be contributing to this increase in air pollution. On the morning of October 8th at 8 a.m., the recorded Air Quality Index (AQI) value was already in the moderate range, reaching 171, making it the second-highest value during the study period. Additionally, the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 stood at 81.37 µg/m³ and 139.62 µg/m³, respectively.

The predicament and Diwali effect:

• According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2023 has been identified as an El Niño year, which increases the likelihood of experiencing climatic anomalies and extreme weather conditions throughout the year.
• During the winter season, there is a projected significant drop in temperature, along with low wind speeds that may hinder the dispersion of pollutants originating from their sources.
• Accuweather‘s weather forecasts indicate that winter temperatures in the city are expected to plummet well below the average, with higher regions experiencing temperatures as low as 28°C and lower regions as cold as 15°C, and these conditions are anticipated to persist until January 2024.
• Given these conditions, it is imperative to remain vigilant and take measures to reduce point source emissions within the city to prevent the Air Quality Index (AQI) from deteriorating into the Poor category.

Recommendations:

• The identification process of the green crackers needs to be easier and more unique so that people can recognize a green cracker only by looking into it. More awareness drives on the identification marks of green crackers may help with this concern. Vigorous miking on the legal time duration of bursting green crackers needs to be done so that households are aware of the same.
• Setting up more green cracker markets, especially in the open places near the localities will make people buy those crackers instead of relying on back door means to buy illegal fireworks.
• Market availability of green crackers and traditional firecrackers needs to be reversed very aggressively so that people have no other choice left if they want to burst crackers.
• At the same time, pricing needs to be within limit, so that people can afford them. Furthermore, unless the black marketing of traditional crackers stops completely, it will not be possible to obtain the goal of a clean environment and several people will have to suffer from prolonged cardiovascular disease for a single-day celebration!

Speaking from an overall perspective, people of Bhubaneswar may know completely or partially about the ban, the timings and the mandate with green crackers, but the Diwali celebrations will remain compromised one way or the other unless 100% of the citizens either switch to the use of only certified GREEN CRACKERS , or find some miraculous solace in celebrating Diwali with complete abstinence from firecrackers of any type.

Mr. Vinay Jaju, Managing Director, SwitchON Foundation said, “Through our studies it has clearly come out that there is a lot to be achieved to be able to implement the green crackers orders. From our survey with consumers we have seen that many people do not know about the window  timing of 8 to 10 burning of green crackers and also the fact that only green crackers are allowed and conventional crackers have been banned. So there is a lot more awareness that has to be followed. But more importantly, we still see conventional fire crackers being sold. We have to have some very strict crackdown at the industry stage itself where the conventional crackers are  still being sold. It is also important that support is offered to them for the transition of these industries to green crackers. What we are seeing in the market is that many crackers just have  the green cracker logo but their QR codes are actually fake or not operational. In Fact, the whole QR code system is very cumbersome and it is not even updated. Most consumers don’t even know how a certificate is coming which is very hard to understand and evaluate. So there are a lot of malpractices that are happening on the ground and there’s a huge amount of lack of awareness on the ground. The industries’ transition has to be thought about in a detailed and deep manner. While we are promoting as an organization not to use any firecrackers, we know that green crackers will still be around and we have to put the right ecosystem, awareness and capacity building in place for them to be finally adopted and a very strong crackdown on all conventional firecrackers.”

Media Dossier

Contact: Vinay Jaju | M: +91 9331178105 | Email: VJ@SwitchON.org.in