Diwali is a festival that is close to the people’s hearts. However, immersed in celebrations, the one important fact that escapes our minds is that it is a festival of lights, not sound — at least not those of the high-decibel variety that cause the heart to quiver.

According to a Gazette of India notification, the noise standard for firecrackers has been fixed below 125 decibels. It says that the “manufacture, sale or use of firecrackers generating noise levels exceeding 125 decibels, at four metres distance from the point of bursting, is prohibited”.

Do some varieties of firecrackers that are manufactured and sold these days conform to the above standards? Going by the deafening noises that some of these firecrackers produce, one has doubts.

The Pollution Control Board, Assam, last year investigated the noise pollution created by firecrackers during Diwali with the help of a noise meter, and some of the findings were alarming to say the least.

In the vicinity of the Kamrup deputy commissioner’s court at Panbazar — considered a “sensitive” zone — the noise level on Diwali was 69 decibels, 29 notches higher than that on a normal day. As it is, the noise levels in different areas of Guwahati are higher than the acceptable limits.

In the commercial area of Paltan Bazar, the noise level on a normal day is 70 decibels. On Diwali last year, the level was 85. Similar was the case in Ulubari and Ganeshguri — 93 and 87 decibels, as against 79 and 69 decibels on a normal day. The message is, literally, loud and clear.

One cannot overlook the air-ambience when firecrackers are burst in an already highly toxic atmosphere. The sulphur in firecrackers mixes with the oxygen in the atmosphere to create sulphur dioxide, a noxious gas that irritates the respiratory tract. Moreover, a considerable amount of respirable suspended particulate matter is produced, which poses similar health hazards.

This year, too, the Pollution Control Board, Assam, will monitor noise levels at important points in the city during peak hours in pursuance of a standing order of the Central Pollution Control Board to investigate air and noise pollution on Diwali.

Traditions should be upheld, but no tradition allows harmful revelry. Sparklers and firecrackers that release noise within the accepted decibel levels can be burst to illumine the celebrations. Diwali should light up our homes and hearts, not deafen our senses. So let there be light sans noise.