Nature conservation organisation calls for firework restrictions for holiday season
The Georgian-based Society for Nature Conservation has called for actions against use of fireworks. Photo: BBC
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The Georgian-based Society for Nature Conservation on Friday asked the Parliament and the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection to restrict use of fireworks during holiday season celebrations to prevent their negative impact on both humans and the environment.
In an official letter submitted to the bodies, the non-governmental organisation pointed to “serious threats” for human health and animal welfare behind the visual appeal of fireworks and called for setting up of working groups to draft bills on limiting their use.
Explaining the use of toxic metals, lithium and sodium salts in production of fireworks, the Society pointed out their use could release carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen into the atmosphere in the chemical reaction during the explosion. The metal particles remain in soil, air and water and can cause “serious health issues” when inhaled or ingested, it added.
It also highlighted the danger posed by fireworks to biodiversity through its impact on bird behaviour, pointing to the effect of explosions in causing “panicked, chaotic” reactions in birds.
Detonations of pyrotechnics cause a disorganised flight reaction and lead to collisions of birds with each other - as well as buildings and trees - as well as their injury and death, the NGO noted, adding birds were observed failing to return to their nests after experiencing the explosions.
The organisation also highlighted the increased risk of forest fires, “serious bodily harm” to humans and long-lasting environmental pollution through pyrotechnic waste as reasons for imposing restrictions on use of fireworks.
Twenty-five individuals have been injured from fireworks-related incidents throughout the country, Guga Kashibadze, the Head of the Burns Centre at the Khechinashvili University Hospital in Tbilisi, told Rustavi 2 TV channel on Friday.
Five out of six children injured in fireworks accidents on New Year’s Eve needed surgery, Medical Director of Iashvili Children Hospital Ivane Chkhaidze said earlier today.
Eighty-one people have been injured as a result of fireworks accidents on December 31-January 1 in Georgia, says the Ministry of Health.
Eight children have been taken to M. Iashvili Children’s Central Hospital as a result of fireworks accidents on New Year’s eve.
Tbilisi Zoo Director Zurab Gurielidze has called for an end to the use of fireworks during the New Year’s Eve celebrations, pointing to distress caused in animals by detonations of pyrotechnics annually during holiday seasons.
The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, along with the Parliament, has prepared the legislative amendments to the domestic criminal code to ensure the prevention of cruelty to animals, the Office said on Saturday.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament, on Friday urged the public to avoid using pyrotechnics during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Ivane Chkhaidze, the Medical Director of the Tbilisi-based Iashvili Children’s Hospital, on Wednesday said the 2024 New Year’s Eve was the first for the clinic without patients admitted with injuries from pyrotechnics used in festive season celebrations.