A day of celebrations, with sound, smoke in air

HYDERABAD: After much anticipation, the festival of lights was celebrated with much excitement. Starting from around 6 ‘o’clock in the evening, the sound of firecrackers began to grow in frequency and pitch, like a crescendo not exactly from a Beethoven or Mozart concerto, but carrying the same fever.However, post the evening, the celebration has now turned into a blanket of smog that has wrapped the city. The thick air only got thicker with the intermittent rain that added moisture to the mix. Particulates from the crackers, chemicals such as sodium, sulphur, copper, barium and nitrogen coupled with coal have made quite a heady cocktail.  Besides causing discomfort to regular people, the pollution severely affects those with respiratory problems, especially asthmatics, mutliple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and heart and circulation disorders. The irritants in the air, dust particulates and the chemical smoke are known to trigger severe wheezing problem while the sound from the explosions raise one’s blood pressure, which can lead to heart problems. Explains Dr V Sneha Sastry,  “The smoke contains poisonous particles that can precipitate an asthma attack while the combustible material causes allergies. What happens is that the airways get constricted due to the allergens, causing bigger problems for someone with a respiratory condition. The noise pollution causes temporary to severe deafness and hyper tension, which in case of a heart patient can precipitate a stroke or a cardiac arrest. Common ailments due to either the smoke or the noise are headaches and suffocation.”One of the many citizens in the city suffering from asthma is Deepika* (name changed) and Diwali was one day she was definitely not looking forward to. “There were people who began bursting crackers at six ‘o’ clock in the morning. Later through the day, even though the windows were closed, the smoke permeated the house, making it quite suffocating. The roads were difficult to drive through because of particulates and the smog. I for one, definitely suffered.”Says Anil Kumar Agastyaraju, an employee at Cognizant who drives from Vanasthalipuram to Gachibowli to reach his office every morning. “Even at 11 in the morning, there was so much of smoke, I could barely see through. I felt like I was driving through a suffocating cloud.”