As the city celebrated Bhogi on Monday morning, residents burnt paper, wood, clothes, cardboard, brooms, garbage, tyres — but not much of plastics. The acrid stench of burning plastic was largely absent in the smog that hung low till around 9 a.m.
A group of boys who were playing the Bhogi melam (drums) as they went around a bonfire in Taramani said that they did not burn plastics as they had been told at school not to do so.
Harmful smoke
“It is harmful to us if we inhale the smoke. But we burnt old clothes and other stuff to ward off the negative elements,” said one of the drummers.
Everywhere this correspondent went, including Velachery, Taramani, ECR, Alandur, Meenambakkam, Mount and Guindy, the smaller streets had Bhogi bonfires burning with young boys playing drums.
They carried plastic drums, each costing ₹80, and the traditional ones made of clay and cow hide each costing ₹30-50.
Welcome change
Royapettah resident Amandeep Singh Kandhari said he did not smell any plastic when he went to his gym in Egmore early in the morning. “Burning plastic has a distinct smell. Though I could smell tyres, I did not smell any plastic. It was definitely a welcome change from last year. Perhaps the plastics ban has helped in this too,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, in a press release, also said that not much plastic was burnt this year. However, at MKN Road in Alandur, a plastic bin caught fire and on the ECR near the Valmiki temple, garbage was burning well into the morning.