bengaluru bursting of crackers has gone beyond diwali sound and light shows are part of all joy ous occasions from winning elections to celebrating sports victories to weddings but the highest court of the country has now stepped in to ensure diwali celebrations dont leave their imprint on the environment the supreme courts move to limit the bursting of crackers from 5pm to 10pm on a petition from three toddlers has drawn applause from bengalurus environmentalists the city has always had its share of activists who went public with their resolve to observe a green diwali by giving up crackers swaha das mohapatra a corporate employee had been celebrating diwali with crackers since childhood but consciously gave it up last yearive had a dog for 10 years but understood only in the past couple of years how the shrill noise of crackers traumatizes animals i also realize how polluted the air becomes after diwali she said swaha lit crackers that emitted very little smoke and only for 20 minutes last year she met up with friends and relatives dished up good food and sweets this year she and her family have decided to go up a notch by making it a crackerfree diwali leo saldanha coordinator of environment support group esg equated bursting of crackers to soft terror considering the number of people who are killed or injured in accidents due to crackers no government has ever collated the data of people dying and being injured due to cracker accidents the apex court should simply direct governments to regulate bursting of crackers and not just ban or have timings fixed for bursting crackers he said saldanha felt crackers should be burst at designated spaces with adequate safety measures and backups at a designated time by all communities as a cultural representation ritu kakkar director of environmental management and policy research institute empri said banning crackers in india is difficult but limiting the time of usage and having some regulations is good schools should teach children about its environmental impact and accidents that cause people great misery childrens groups should be formed to advocate diwali without crackers she said animals rejoice diwali brings trauma and nightmares for pets while some run away from home a few get injured and stray animals fall prey to drunk men who tie crackers to their tails for cheap entertainmentevery year we get 2030 calls per day from pet owners to treat animals who suffer burns or skin wounds or are under trauma dogs are particularly sensitive to noisebut issues of lost dogs come up even 10 days after the festivities cupa spokesperson said guha bharadwaj who runs the ngo animals matter to me said a sudden complete ban on crackers would be too much to expect but welcomed the courts thoughts on the issue animals get psyched when they hear amplified sounds and see firecrackers their behaviour becomes erratic because they are scared they also get hurt in mishaps with crackers some people tie