Chennai (Tamil Nadu): As India celebrated Diwali by bursting firecrackers, and sharing candies on the occasion, a few villages in Tamil Nadu decided to celebrate the festival quietly without any noise as part of the eco-friendly measures aimed at saving the environment. Vettangudi village has a bird sanctuary established by the Tamil Nadu government in 1977, and Sivaganga district is also a tourist area in the state.
Over 217 varieties of birds from abroad migrate to the sanctuary to make it their abode for the current season. Considerate of the ill effects on the environment, the locals in Vettangudi and the nearby villages Periya Kollukkudi and Chinna Kollukkudi decided not to burn firecrackers on Diwali. Chellamani, a local resident from Periya Kollukkudi said, "This bird sanctuary is wrongly named Vettangudipatti Bird Sanctuary. Kollugudipatti should be the name. Not only the public here, but children also do not burst crackers on Diwali. No one bursts firecrackers inside the town except those who go out of town and burst firecrackers".
Two children named Sharmi and Pranav seconded Kollukkudi and said, "We celebrate Diwali in our village, but firecrackers don't explode. As it is the time of hatching of birds, it gives shock to the birds, so we don't burst crackers”. Likewise, locals at Kittampalayam village in Coimbatore district, also do not burst firecrackers on Diwali or any other functions.
Also read: No Diwali for Chhattisgarh tribals on Sunday; 'Devuthani Sohrai' to be celebrated later, know why
"Our goal is to plant trees to make our village prosperous. We can only plant as many trees as we can. As an alternative to this, we decided to breed birds in our town. When bats and birds, which are eating different kinds of fruits in different regions, come to our village, the seeds left behind will sprout into trees here,” a local said.
He said the decision was taken after realizing the benefits of bats in their village 20 years ago. The local town has three centuries-old massive tamarind trees and a banyan tree which are spread over an area of about half an acre and look gigantic. Thousands of bats live in the tamarind and banyan trees that fly over the temple on a daily basis.
The Vellode Bird Sanctuary in Erode district of Tamil Nadu is spread over an area of about 240 acres. It was renovated at a cost of Rs 2 crore 35 lakhs, and the embankments around the sanctuary have been strengthened. As part of measures to conserve the local environment, more than 10 villages surrounding this bird sanctuary, including P. Mettupalayam, Poongambadi, Thalayankattu Valasu, Thachankarai, Semmampalayam, and Ellapalayam celebrated Diwali without bursting firecrackers for the 17th year now.
Sakthivel, a resident of the area, said, "Birds have been coming here from abroad for the last 16 years. These birds come here to breed. So we don't burst firecrackers on Diwali so as not to disturb these birds. Trees should be planted to prevent environmental pollution. The arrival of birds in large numbers from other countries and people coming to see them adds pride to our village”.
