MUMBAI: Diwali is a festival of lights, and while we light up lamps to go with the theme of the festival, many take the celebration a step future with fireworks. However, very few realise that all of this leads to a lot of noise and air pollution. It also causes a lot of trouble to animals, elderly people and patients. Keeping these aspects of Diwali celebration in mind, Radioandmusic.com contacted some well-known music personalities and this is what they had to say. 

Meiyang Chang: Although bursting crackers has become a part of our festivals it causes a lot of issues for the elderly and animals. Moreover, in a city as populated as Mumbai, it gets even more difficult to burst crackers without affecting someone. So, when we talk about sound and air pollution control, it is in the hands of cracker companies and the Government. However, we can at least clean up the area where we have burst the crackers. A lot of people just leave the place dirty for the BMC to clean. I believe one should celebrate festivals, but with some responsibility.

Toshi Sabri: Bursting too many crackers is not good for the environment and health. Hence, people should opt for a nicer way of celebrating the festival. They should spend more time visiting their loved ones. I personally would like to spend three hours of my day with family and friends rather than bursting crackers. 

Abhijeet Bhattacharya: Every country has a tradition and culture and that should not be changed. I believe there is more pollution because of more buildings than crackers. One should enjoy the festival and share the same with others.  Thus, we share our fireworks with the poor to bring a smile on their faces. 

Aman Trikha: I believe that too much of anything is not too good. Bursting a lot of crackers leads to a lot of noise and air pollution. I feel one should focus more on lighting lamps and celebrate with fireworks that do not create noise pollution. A lot of irresponsible cracker users leave many injured. The ones bursting crackers on the roads even disrupt traffic, and sometimes it can lead to accidents. These things can be avoided. 

Neha Kakkar: My family has not used crackers in the last five years and we do not intent to. Thus, I do not support anyone bursting crackers. I feel that if one really wants to enjoy the festival they should play cards and have sweets.

Aishwarya Majmudar: I feel one should burst crackers and also take care of the environment. Moreover, Diwali comes just once a year. Bursting crackers is a part of our tradition thus; I cannot stay away from them. But, we do put the waste away.  Plus we do not even use noisy crackers to avoid sound pollution. As far as the environment is concerned I plant once every year.