1MG – Lido Mall launches campaign to celebrate eco-friendly Diwali

 An urgent call to action has been taken by 1MG – Lido Mall after rising pollution levels are forcing Bengaluru residents to leave the city during the festive season to celebrate Diwali with their loved ones. The Mall has launched the eco-friendly Diwali 2018 which commits to no-pollution and no-noise keeping in mind the health and wellbeing of its visitors. With an aim to make a difference, the Mall has also partnered with leading eye care hospital Narayana Nethralaya to promote eye donation.

Commented Mr. Suman Lahiri, Chief Operating Officer, 1MG – Lido Mall, “We have witnessed over 500 people signing up each day ever since we announced the eco-friendly and eye donation campaign on our social media platform. This goes to show that the residents of Bengaluru do care about the welfare of our community and want to play an integral role in the campaign as well”.

Also commented Ms. Bhanu Praveen, Marketing Manager, 1MG – Lido Mall, “This Diwali, we commit ourselves to lighting up lives. The figures were indeed alarming and hence we as a Mall decided to launch an eco-friendly Diwali celebration this year onwards which promotes no-pollution and no-noise. We are also addressing key areas on do’s and don’ts of bursting fire crackers and the increasing pollution levels, how loud noise can affect animals and more. All visitors to our Mall also participated in a pledge to celebrate Diwali the eco-friendly way moving forward. Post event, the visitors were treated to Diwali sweets and we tried our best to make the festive season most memorable for all”.

Also added Mr. Roby Varghese, Centre Manager – 1MG Lido Mall, “With an attempt to raise awareness on eye donation, we are encouraging all our visitors to take a pledge towards an eco-friendly Diwali.  The eye donation campaign will also be conducted for all those who are keen to donate their eyes.  The eye donation is considered an act of charity, purely for the benefit of the society and is totally voluntary.

With over 50 cases of eye injuries reported by Narayana Nethralaya every year on the onset of Diwali, the hospital announced that it will open its doors to offer free consultation and primary eye treatment on the 6th, 7th and 8th of November 2018 to all those whose eyes are affected by the fire crackers. With a fully equipped manpower and resources a dedicated team of doctors will be on standby through the night to administer timely aid to all those who enter their hospitals”.

Commented Dr. Bhujang Shetty, Founder Chairman and MD Narayana Nethralaya, “Last year the supreme court banned fire crackers and it was quite challenging to have this enforced across the country, especially keeping in mind how people enthusiastically look forward to bursting firecrackers especially during Diwali. However, this year, the balanced judgment from the BBMP with restricted timings and the use of green crackers with low emissions and low sound which has paved way for a more responsible commitment on the citizens and how well we will all work towards preserving our environment. However, the only challenge is that the green cracker are not easily available in the market this year and hence the conventional ones are still being used by most”.

“A city like Bengaluru is already witnessing increasing levels of pollution because of traffic and other reasons.  With Diwali the levels of toxic gases in the air increases to over 50 percent. With so many people already suffering from asthma and allergy, this will only cause more havoc. And it is because of things like these that most people prefer to leave the city during these days, which is really unfortunate. As responsible citizens we also need to understand that it is not the pollution board or the Government to handle these issues, it should be our responsibility not to burn crackers and we inturn should influence others too!”