Hindu festival of lights or frights: Diwali fire accidents/hazards causes, prevention and Precautions

When the whole country seems to be immersed in celebrations of Diwali, nobody knows that there is tragedy in store for them. One explosion and everything goes topsy-turvy and turns upside down.

This could happen even your family as well. When we are busy enjoying, we fail to look at the darker side of the festivity.

Kids are more prone to accidents and it is all because of the negligence of the parents. They love to buy crackers and bombs for their children, ignoring the repercussions.

Every year there are many fire accidents on Diwali and the statistics of fire accidents in Diwali are just climbing up. The fire cases were reported mainly from the congested areas of Delhi like Sadar Bazaar, Bara Tooti etc.

Here are certain ‘dos and don’ts’ for Diwali

• Do not light crackers in narrow lanes.
• Do not use rockets.
• Do not let children handle fireworks by themselves. An adult should be present with them to guide them.
• Never light a cracker in your hand.
• Do not wear synthetic clothes while lighting fireworks.
• Keep sufficient amount of water ready, just in case an accident occurs.

Just remember that if the victim’s clothes are on fire, smother with a rug or blanket, cool the burn area with a large quantity of water. Cover the affected area with sterilized or clean dressing. Do not touch the patient; remove his clothes or apply cream or lotions.

If there are extensive burns, the patient should be moved to the hospital. If an accident occurs in your home or in the vicinity, just rush your victim to the nearest hospital. Just make appropriate enquiries before taking the victim to the hospital. The hospitals are specially ready for fire related accidents during Diwali.

The facilities provided by the hospitals will for burn patients are very important. Hospitals need to have proper burns wards for the patients with doctors on 24 hours’ duty.

Other hazards which mark the festivity of Diwali are pollution, both air and noise. Sulphurous smoke emitted by the fireworks is bad for lung patients. Even noise pollution seems to be on the rise. The pollution control board feels that the level of noise has been rising each year with the increase in the size of bombs.

Earlier, people used to go for walks to take a look at the decorations and fireworks. These days people find it difficult to come out of the house because of the deafening noise emanated from the bombs and crackers. Diwali has become a festival of noise rather than a festival of cheer.

The kids are seen to be competing with their friends with regard to the size of the bombs. It is necessary that you always be present with your children when they are lighting the fireworks.

And for those who have to negotiate the city traffic, it is a harrowing experience. They have to spend hours in the traffic jams trying to reach their friend’s place. Gift-laden cars and people going to convey Diwali greetings to their friends find themselves caught up in the traffic jams.

To avoid being enmeshed in a troublesome situation, make it a point to do your shopping much in advance and also greet your friends a day before Diwali so that you can just be at home on Diwali and make the most of it.

Diwali turns to be a nightmare for the wives whose husbands go out on Diwali nights to gamble. For them there is no merrymaking. They just wait for their husbands to return home. People seem to have the age-old belief that if they gamble and they are successful in it, this will bring them good fortune and they will have a prosperous year.

What about the wives who just wait for their husbands to come back home? Some of them also indulge in heavy drinking. There have been reports of deaths occurring on Diwali night due to excessive drinking.

Festival of cheer is slowly turning into a festival of nightmares and is becoming a virtual inferno for some. While they are enjoying, they seem to lose direction and their enjoyment turns wild.

With a bit of caution and adult supervision while children are playing with crackers, fire mishaps can be averted. The fire cases are mainly cracker-related. So why not avoid the use of crackers?

The shopkeepers can avoid fire cases in Diwali if they follow the safety guidelines. The local police should enforce the guidelines so as to avoid accidents. People should also avoid gambling and drinking and enjoy themselves only at home because festival is the time when the whole family gathers to celebrate and enjoy.

Let this festival remain a festival of lights rather than a festival of frights.