Bashundhara Shuvosangho conducted an awareness campaign in the capital on Wednesday warning against the harmful impact of using fireworks, sky lanterns, loud music and intoxicants in the name of New Year celebrations.
Shuvosangho's Ramna Thana Unit hosted the campaign in the Ramna Park on Wednesday.
As part of the initiative, a street rally and awareness campaign were conducted. Participants carried various posters highlighting the severe harmful effects of fireworks and noise pollution.
Speakers at the street meeting said that the indiscriminate use of sky lanterns, fireworks, and firecrackers in the name of celebrating the English New Year causes serious environmental pollution. It also increases the risk of fire, which can lead to major accidents in densely populated urban areas. At the same time, loud music poses serious health risks for children, the elderly, heart patients, and the sick.
They further noted that, according to experts, excessive noise can cause mental stress, insomnia, hearing loss, and even heart complications. In addition, the intense sound and light of fireworks have devastating effects on animals and birds. Many birds flee their nests in fear, stray animals get injured, and the natural balance of the environment is disrupted, Shuvosangho members said.
The activists also warned that reckless behaviour under the influence of intoxicants on New Year’s Eve poses a threat to social safety and law and order.
Under the guidance of Shuvosangho's Dhaka Metropolitan Coordinator Abdul Hannan Milton, the programme was led by the organisation's Ramna Thana unit President Ashiq Ahmed, Vice President Ria Akter, and General Secretary Atin Saha.
The organisers said that the main objective of the program was to encourage celebrating the New Year in a joyful yet safe, environmentally friendly, and humane manner. Calling on everyone to act responsibly, they said that conscious decisions can ensure a safe city and a healthy future.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
