Kalyan, Dombivli see a noiseless celebration

KALYAN: Instead of bursting crackers, people in Kalyan and Dombivli have been celebrating Diwali a little differently this year.

Fourteen-year-old Aditi Shanklesha along with siblings Ishika Shanklesha, Daksh Shanklesha and Jhanvi Jain decided to put up posters encouraging people to celebrate an eco-friendly Diwali this year.

The group has put up 40 posters, bearing the message ‘Avoid too much of sound and light, celebrate an eco-friendly Diwali’, at various locations in Kalyan (West).

“We all decided to make posters for Diwali this year to encourage people be environment friendly. We then put up the posters across the city,” said Aditi.

Meanwhile, many residential complexes opted to celebrate Diwali without causing noise pollution.

A society in Chinchpada in Kalyan (East) told its residents through a notice, asking them not to burst loud crackers this year.

“Since the police have already alerted the residents of Kalyan about the norms regarding the crackers, we have requested our people to follow it. It is good if the residents, themselves, take intiative and contribute towards an ecofriendly Diwali,” said one of the residents.

An organisation in Dombivli, Maitri Kalyankari Sanstha, visited the Om Sai Senior Citizen Home to celebrate Diwali with the residents there.

People also came down to the Kalyan market from all corners of the two cities to shop for their Diwali essentials. The market saw a huge crowd clamouring for the lamps and rangoli colours

“Initially, there were very few people selling colours and lamps at this market. But afterwards, many did not sell crackers and started selling lamps and colours. I have already sold 50kg of colours in a day,” said a 32-year-old vendor, Shailesh Tiwari.