Harit Diwali Swasth Diwali Scheme

Harit Diwali Swasth Diwali - A Green Awareness Campaign

 Key Points to remember

• To control the increasing rate of environmental pollution in India the “Harit Diwali Swasth Diwali” campaign is launched by Environment Minister of India Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
• The main motto of this campaign is to reduce the Air and Noise pollution.
• Under this campaign the students are requested to celebrate a Green Diwali without using the fire crackers.

Introduction:

• To control the increasing rate of environmental pollution in India, the Central Government has launched an awareness campaign keeping the upcoming Diwali festival in mind. The campaign is named as “Harit Diwali Swasth Diwali”. Environment Minister of India Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched the campaign in New Delhi. By this campaign the awareness against the use of harmful firecrackers among the people must be developed. He also urges to the school students to participate in this campaign actively.
  

 Objectives of the Campaign:

• To reduce the use of harmful fire crackers.
• To combat against the Air and Noise pollution.
• To encourage the people to buy environment friendly products to celebrate Diwali.
• To create awareness among the people by performing Street plays, Parivesh Vandana and other social activities.

Features of the Campaign:

• Almost 800 school students of Delhi and NCR region were addressed by the environment Minister at the launching program of the campaign.
• He encourages the students to learn about the harmful effects of the chemical which are used to make the fire crackers and the adverse effect towards human health and environment.
• All the students are requested to celebrate the Diwali of this year without burning the fire crackers. Instead of that, they can celebrate the festival of light by buying gifts and foods for the under-privileged and poor children of their locality.
• A pledge for the green and healthy Diwali will be circulated to the school, colleges and other educational institutes by the Union Government.
• The administrations of the schools are requested to announce the pledge at the time of assembly of the school till Diwali.
• Apart from that, the Ministry of Environment has also planned to undertake several activities to increase the awareness among the stakeholders. Common people are also encourages to fight against the Air and Noise pollution.
• Various activities like logo distribution and poster competitions among the school children, appeal to the public through radio and other mediums, advertisement on the public transport systems are already started to promote the “Green Diwali” mission.
• Social media is also used as a platform for this campaign. There will be an online competition in which any individual or organization or group can create a video or audio clip on the theme of “Pollution Free Diwali”. The best clip among these will be used to promote the theme across the country officially.

Background of this Campaign:

• The excessive use of fire crackers in Diwali contributes to Air and Noise pollution. These cause severe impact on the heath of the people and environment.
• The post-Diwali pollution level of India especially Delhi in 2016 compelled the Government to declare the emergency situation. As a result, the schools, power stations, construction sites were closed down for several days.
• In this year India will host the FIFA  U-17 World Cup in the month of October. To conduct the international event successfully, the Government of India is determined to reduce the pollution. According to the Government, pollution free Diwali can protect the National Image in front of the world.

Conclusion:

• It is expected that the Harit Diwali Swasth Diwali campaign launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate will help to create awareness among the people against the use of fire crackers.