Collector requests public to celebrate smokeless Bhogi

Virudhunagar district administration requested the public not to burn waste materials on the occasion of Bhogi to maintain the quality of air.  The collector requested the public to celebrate smokeless Bhogi to protect the environment. 

On the day of Bhogi, it has been a tradition to lit a bonfire with logs of wood, cow-dung cakes, other solid-fuels and wooden furniture at home that are no longer useful.  However, with the lack of farm wastes in the city, people here make a bonfire with old tyres and tubes, plastic materials, old mates, broomsticks, garbage and a few other harmful materials. 

This in turn increases the levels of various pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 in the air. These pollutants affect our lungs and heart and long-term exposure would result in significant health problems including increased respiratory symptoms.  It also causes formation of smog which causes poor visibility thereby disrupting the regular traffic movement.