Community fireworks is the way forward: Amala Akkineni

Diwali is here and talk about fire crackers cannot be far behind. With noise and air pollution the spillovers of Diwali festivities, environmentalists have for long been advocating for more environment friendly celebrations. Amala Akkineni calls for sparing a thought for animals

How does bursting crackers affect animals?

Amala: Festivals celebrated with respect to all beings - humans and animals, and the environment we live in will serve much purpose and bring good will. Sadly, if we do things in excess we could destroy the planet we live on and disturb the peace in the community. Burning of any material can cause grave harm to all living creatures and animals are no exception.

As a child I vividly remember the community fireworks organised by the Navy. It was beautifully organised and everyone enjoyed a big Diwali event without much pollution. Such events can be encouraged to mark the celebrations of Diwali and everyone can participate and enjoy.

How long this effect does lasts on the animals?

Not just animals- pollution causes much lasting harm on the environment and all who live there. Dogs run helter-skelter and hide behind furniture. The trauma they undergo cannot be quantified.

What kind of precautions can be taken to safeguard pets and stray animals?

Keeping them indoors or into your compound and allowing them a quiet place from the noise helps. A few drops of rescue remedy in water can calm a stressed animal. But firstly we need to go from door to door requesting children to burst crackers in open places away from homes and apartments, that don't amplify the sound and smoke. Request them to be considerate to elders, small children and animals who get very disturbed.

Please share the statistics of animals affected over the last 2-3 years?

Well, accessing such statistics will take much time to gather and make assessments so I wont claim such access at present. However , by simply going through our experience at Blue Cross of Hyderabad last 3 years , around Diwali time we rescue dozens of animals and birds who have been burnt from crackers and have very bad burns all over the body.

Sometimes we get terrible crimes where people have tied crackers to the tail of the animal and the lower half of the body has been burnt. This is a terrible thing and should not be encouraged at all. People who grow up cruel to animals will eventually turn into criminals - insensitive to causing pain and suffering to others.

They may even turn into serial killers as found in studies made by Interpol. Such crimes have nothing to do with Diwali and people must be vigilant to prevent them at all cost. Noting down animal and police helplines to report such acts of cruelty will go a long way.

What kind of awareness should be created towards the issue?

To promote peace and harmony in the community is every Indian's duty. It would be wonderful if every community, office, school and home took responsibility to create a caring neighbourhood, for the people, the animals, and environment and encourage a feeling of responsible celebration.

Do you think the awareness campaigns done previously were effective?

Awareness programmmes are never enough and is a continuous process. Human nature can be an evil workshop if good people let their guard down. Taking an hour every week to connect with your neighborhood and speaking about such things will go a long way.

By:Divya Vallabaneni