Not a cracker of a Diwali for schoolkids in Jaipur

More and more people are shunning firecrackers in the cities.

The sale of crackers has gone down by 20-25% in major cities, including Jaipur, due to successful anti-cracker campaigns launched by school authorities, according to a just-concluded ASSOCHAM survey.

Schoolchildren, the survey reports, are now more aware and are consciously avoiding crackers due to their hazardous impact on health and environment. 

“Many schools across urban India have administered oath to their students during morning assembly prayers to go for safe and eco-friendly celebrations on Diwali this year,” said the survey conducted by The ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) over last 25 days.

“Though, there has been a general rise of 10-15% in crackers’ prices, the decline in their demand is being majorly attributed to growing awareness among children who have vowed to abide by their oaths to shun firecrackers,” said DS Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM, while releasing the survey report.

Damodar Prasad Goyal, president, Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan, said, “Children are getting conscious about the hazards of bursting crackers on health and environment. Moreover, high prices of crackers this year are also a reason for the decline in their sale.”

The ASDF team visited around 150 schools in cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Pune and Surat to conduct the survey. The team interacted with over 1,000 schoolchildren in these cities to ascertain as how schools are playing a significant role in discouraging kids against bursting firecrackers that are grossly unsafe and pollute the overall environment. The survey was conducted from October 1 to October 30.

The ASSOCHAM team also interacted with around 200 traders, retail and wholesale firecracker dealers to ascertain the market scenario.

Considering that the downfall in firecracker sales has been going on for the past few years now, many shopkeepers even said they have piles left from last year and thus haven’t really ordered more crackers this year.

The domestic firecracker industry is worth over Rs1,500 crore. The town of Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu accounts for over 90% of fireworks production in India with over 9,000 units in both organised and unorganised sectors.