New Delhi, Fireworks is one of the many ways to express joy and happiness all over world. Be it Diwali or new year or a wedding or some victory; people fire crackers and light colourful lights to express their happiness. Though during the fireworks the fear of life and property due to stray and untoward accidents is always there but still people do not refrain from cracking crackers or lighting rockets into open sky in often right the midst of high rise buildings that are fully populated too.
The recent ban on fireworks in Delhi and NCR i.e. national capital region by Honourable Supreme court of India, is one of the many ways to tackle the noise and air pollution caused in this manner and it’s other side effects.
8th of April 1667 Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had imposed ban on cracking crackers on wedding and other occasions.
But many voices have raised branding this ban as autocratic and that this is the first time such a ban has been imposed in India. But that is not true.
Earlier on 8th of April 1667 Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had imposed ban on cracking crackers on wedding and other occasions. In an order it was directed to all ‘Suba’ officers and Faulad Khan to impose complete ban on fireworks. It was told that no one should be allowed to fire crackers or fireworks in the state anywhere, on any occasion. It was clearly mentioned that the ban was on all those things that are made of ‘barood’ and are fired on weddings and other auspicious occasions.
In 1908 Bikaner state’s ruler Maharajah Ganga Singh too had enacted a ‘bhakk se udane waale padarthon ka act’ to stop firing crackers and fireworks.
According to Dr. Mahendra Khadgawat, Director, State Archives, Rajasthan, this order is preserved in the archives’ files under ‘akhbaaraate mualaa’s’ Persian series. In this series various important events of Mughal period are documented and preserved.
Not only this, in 1908 Bikaner state’s ruler Maharajah Ganga Singh too had enacted a ‘bhakk se udane waale padarthon ka act’ to stop firing crackers and fireworks.
According to this act if any person uses ‘bhak se udane waale padarth’ and causes a blast due too which the peace of that area is affected or life and property is damaged or there is a possibility of such an incident; such a person would be subjected to monetary punishment with either life imprisonment or ‘kala panee’ sentence for a few years. This act too is available in archives files in its original form.
Obviously we can say that the concern about the fireworks and crackers causing damage to our health and finer sense had always been there. But gradually theses fireworks had become a part of our heritage and now at this stage its really very difficult to eradicate this menace totally from our system.
More so as during recent times the fireworks has become a status symbol. More the money someone has more are the fireworks they fire and show off. This we can already see. Despite the total ban on crackers and fireworks in Delhi and NCR one can see and listen to crackers all through the day and as the evening approaches more and more people are seen indulging in this noise and air polluting fun, which is not at all funny for the elderly, pets, kids, sick and peace loving people.