Given the smog that enveloped the Capital a month back and the deteriorating air quality, Municipal authorities have rightly banned the burning of garbage. Perhaps in keeping with these directives, one can rarely see roadside bonfires, where the poor gather to keep the winter chill away. Though the freezing Delhi cold is yet to set in, one remembers how in earlier years, rag-pickers and pavement dwellers would collect discarded paper cups at tea stalls, paper scraps and dried twigs and leaves to make a merry fire to get them through the cold nights. Stray dogs often joined the group and later settle atop the warm ashes left behind.
This year, this is rarely seen. While there is need to respect the government’s directives in the larger interest of the city, one cannot help but wonder how the poor are getting along. Till last year, in Noida, the authorities had placed logs of wood at various points of the city. This was lit up at night to help the poor keep themselves warm. This year, so far, no such bonfires have appeared. Since the authorities cannot set aside their own directives, the poor will perhaps have to make do with their own make-shift little fires.
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This being the festive season, one also wonders if there would be bonfires at the various parties hosted at this time of the year. Bonfires are particularly popular during Christmas as well as New Year celebrations. The welcome fire certainly provides warmth and adds to the cheer while ringing in the New Year. One wonders if this year, given that a few will flout the directives anyway, electric or gas fires will replace the bonfires or else people will have to depend on their “inner warmth” to brave the cold night of New Year’s Eve!
