Dum Dum Dum. Neither the atom bomb nor the hydrogen bomb had caused the loud and penetrative permeative sound on the eve of Diwali. Rather the reverberations were due to the thunderous crash made by the God of Thunder himself! Yes. Chennai, which had been stereotyped for so long as "Hot, Hotter and Hottest", ensured that those people chewed and digested their words through her lashy rains that were widely prevalent across the city since Saturday. It has been very long since Chennai had experienced such a heavy rain of this magnitude. Almost all the roads were completely flooded and cut off thus causing the city to come to a stand still. Surely, the tourists from Venice wouldn't have felt then that they were in a distant place far away from home! But, Varuna God did not show any sign of mercy and persisted with his relentlessness. Power was cut for more than 12 hours in many parts of the city as a result of the strong winds. Schools, colleges and even corporates were given a day off considering the potential threat and perceived risk of the incessant rains. Amidst a damp situation, around 3pm in the afternoon on Monday, the Lord of Rain decided that enough is enough and put the brakes on his super power so that the Chennaites need not have to wait until next year to celebrate Diwali with their family and friends. The festival kicked off, though in a very subdued manner, and the people slowly started to venture out of their homes after 2 days of imprisonment! The city was alive and kicking with rains still looming extremely dangerously on the horizon. Lord Varuna was still having the city in check. The people prayed and hoped that it was not a check mate!
The happy festive proceeding began in full flow to match the city's floods that the dum dum dum noise was now due to the crackers. Time changes everything in a matter of hours! The sedated yet steady increase in sound and colorful lights culminated into a lively but moisty D-Day. However, the day which used to be punctuated with lots of 'damal dumeel' was rather politely interrupted with the occasional shots on this particular Diwali. The usually over crowded retail outlets were having a gloomy and sad facade on the radiant occasion. The rains were the prime accused for the cracker sales to have nose dived so sharply when compared to the previous years. This was very much evident from the fact that RSPM levels in Triplicane recorded a mere 90 microgram/cubic metre in comparison with 297 microgram/cubic metre from last year. Likewise, T.Nagar and Nungambakkam logged in 131 and 126 microgram/cubic metre this year from 180 microgram/cubic metre in 2014.
Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) are particulate matters with diameters less than or equal to 10 micrometres. As per the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) data, the RSPM levels have significantly plummeted by a mammoth 45.6% from 192.6 in 2014 to 105.6 in 2015. Though, it was still higher than the permissible levels of 100 microgram/cubic centre for a safe dwelling, this was still a positive step in the right direction for the levels of air pollution in the city to lessen during the Diwali time.
Despite all the data pointing out to the fact that the air pollution had considerably dropped, there were no such indications for noise pollution. Besant Nagar, well-known for its calm and peaceful residential surrounding, was the loudest with 83dB up by 10dB from last year. However, the average noise pollution in the city had gone down from 80.4dB in 2014 to 80.2dB in 2015. The facts look very promising for those 'green lovers' but not for the retails outlet owners whose bulky investments outstare them right into their eyes!
Though the Rain God may have played a party pooper on this festive day, the facts clearly indicate that this Diwali was relatively environment friendly to all the living beings and that this gala day was truly celebrated in the spirit of the letter of the festival.
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