There is Diwali and then there is much-debated cracker ban. The Supreme Court’s decision to put a ban on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi has already incited a lot of debate around the topic. The one thing that matters and yet had eluded discussion are the people who are already sick and will be affected by the after-effect of excessive cracker bursting. The ban on sale of fire-crackers in Delhi-NCR before Diwali have incited much anger among residents and social media ‘activists’ from across the country. But the biggest discussion to come out of this is definitely the revelations from families who have been at the receiving end of the deterioration of the air quality in the national capital region.
Here is one such story from the heart of Delhi. Media professional Parul Agrawal shared a personal account from her life and it will, most definitely, leave your heart aching on her behalf.
Since the August 23, 2017, Parul’s mother has been in the hospital, fighting a precarious lung infection. The condition has only aggravated recently with her mother unable to breathe on her own. While many of the city’s residents hoard crackers or look for illicit ways of acquiring the now-banned commodity, Parul is just hoping that this year the festival will not be as severe like the previous year.
She writes:
#CrackerBan is the only story, I have spent sometime on, in the last two months. Mom is fighting a lung infection that has left her on oxygen support since 23rd August. A month in ICU…more than 19 days in the ward and she still cant breath on her own. I don’t know how many of you eagerly wait for Diwali and how you prepare for the festivities. For us it is mostly about sealing the doors, getting mom on steriods, nebulising her several times and desperately waiting for ‘Diwali’ to get over. Its Diwali again. She has been in the hospital for 50 days now and is at the risk of catching other infections. We are eager to get her discharged and go back home but me and my brother are running around to ensure we don’t end up taking her to the ‘gas chamber.’ She cannot travel so leaving Delhi is no more an option. Yes a ban is not the solution. Yes, the legislature and not the judiciary should initiate a restriction on such thing. Yes, the call for the control should ultimately come from the public and the pollution that increases manifold on Diwali is still alarming much before and much after Diwali. BUT till the consensus happens and we derive the most democratic, secular and feasible solution on earth how do many-many-many like my mom hold on? For asthma and lung patients in Delhi, breathing is like running on a treadmill that cannot be stopped! To all those who are tirelessly engaged in a #FireCrackerDebate and to those whose religious freedom and sentiments are hurt, I must tell, a 45 kg oxygen cylinder lasts 24 hours. AND your time starts now…
See her post here:
Also Read: 5 counter-demands in response to SC’s firecracker ban that will leave you speechless
Parul’s mother is still in a critical condition and after spending so many days in the hospital, she faces the potential threat of catching more infections. While people debate over how unfair it is on the Supreme Court’s part to ban crackers, many families like Parul’s are fighting just to survive.
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