Several students in Chennai have said that they will not buy crackers this Deepavali and instead use the money to purchase clothes, sweets and gifts for the less privileged.
Students running voluntary units in a number of schools have also urged their friends not to buy crackers, attributing the reason to the recent Sivakasi blast, which claimed the lives of the breadwinners of many families.
Students’ across the city say that their craze for crackers has faded due to reasons like child labour, environmental pollution and poor safety measures being provided to workers at cracker units.
“Crackers have resulted only in the loss of lives, we should realise how many people have died for our one day of fun,” said B. Ranjith, a student of Class 12.
Due to environmental pollution that arise from bursting of crackers, students have come up with the concept of green Diwali.
“I am totally against crackers. We are polluting our environment to a large extent. I am planning to organise street plays and dramas in my school along with my friends,” said A. Gowthami, a Class XI student.
Parents in the city, meanwhile, are glad about the students’ decision.
“We used to buy crackers for thousands of rupees but over time we have stopped the practice. The hard-earned money should be spent purposefully and we can help several under privileged children with the money,” said Ms B. Deivanayaki, a homemaker.
Meanwhile, teachers too have supported the students and say that bursting crackers is not the way to celebrate Diwali.
“Even today, several children are working in cracker manufacturing units indirectly. There should be an anti-cracker propaganda in all schools.” said N. Thamarai Kannan, founder president, Tamil Nadu Integrated Graduate Teachers Association.