As predicted earlier, the New Year celebration on the so-called 31st night was marked with sound and air pollution in different parts of the country. Only a week ago, a study revealed that fireworks during the New Year celebration heightened Dhaka's air and sound pollution. This year, the amount of air pollution in the next one hour of celebration, which started a little before zero hour, increased by about 35 per cent and noise pollution by 42 per cent compared to 11-12 pm on the same night. It seems that people are indifferent to pollution and its negative impact. Instead, they continued their celebration and some with rowdiness. Though the ministry concerned warned that it would conduct a drive to curb the fireworks, little could be done.
Equally distressing is the widespread use of loud music on rooftops and in various public spaces. The disregard for children, the elderly, and patients who struggle to sleep due to the relentless beats of midnight DJ parties is disheartening. These so-called celebrations turn into a nightmare for the neighbours, many of whom fall ill due to the high decibel sounds.
The unruliness of a section of youth, thanks to reckless driving of cars and motorcycles, created midnight disturbance while some hooligans harassed and misbehaved with people on the streets. Youths in some areas openly drank alcohol and created nuisance in public places.
Many citizens also carelessly flew sky lanterns, which led to breaking out of fires in many places and damaged property. Despite repeated requests by the Dhaka Metro Rail authority, careless people ignited sky lanterns near metro lines, and many doused sky lanterns landed on the overhead electricity cables. So, the authorities were compelled to work the whole night removing entangled polythene covers of sky lanterns to operate in time on the first day of the New Year.
The callous attitude of many during the celebration also caused harm to birds and animals. Terrified by smoke and loud noise from the firecrackers, they began to flee here and there, resulting in the death of some birds. Many years back, American wildlife experts have identified that fireworks during the New York celebration in America scared thousands of birds, sending them into a frenzy and causing them to drop dead from the sky. Now, the same thing is happening in Bangladesh. Though many urged on social media to avoid firecrackers for the sake of health and the environment, the call mostly went unheard.
As repeated calls for not using firecrackers did not work, the government should take stern measures to curb production and import of firecrackers and lanterns in the near future. Restriction on the use of high-volume sound boxes and amplifiers should also be imposed. In this regard, social institutions like neighbourhood mosques may also be used for awareness building. Imams in the mosques may be requested to deliver sermons about the harmful impact of fireworks and high-decibel noise. Schools and colleges should alert students and ask for modest celebrations like indoor music and feasts without disturbing others.
The damaging celebration of the New Year reaffirms that a large part of society has already become insensitive. The self-centric mania of enjoying a festival has made it discriminatory and oppressive to many others.
