Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (MS)

Udupi, Nov 14: Parkala Friends of the district have come out with unique bamboo crackers for this year's Deepavali, which does not contain any harmful chemical.

Chief minister B S Yediyurappa has banned the normal crackers which pollute the environment and also cause eye irritation. This inspired Parkala Friends to come out with the innovative idea of Bamboo cracker.

The team cut the bamboo trees on the nearby land. One bamboo has seven knots on it. Except one knot at the bottom, all other knots need to be opened up. The cracker is half done.

This bamboo should be kept horizontally and kerosene needs to be poured to the side into a hole which is drilled in it. Using a cycle pump on the same hole to pump air and lighting, it will give a huge sound. To repeat again, two spoonful of kerosene needs to be put. No smoke, no garbage and even cost is very low.

Giving information on this unique cracker, Ganesh Parkala said, "This cracker is the gift of our ancestors. A local gave us the idea of preparing bamboo cracker. We brought bamboo from rural area and got it drilled at a welding shop and prepared 100% indigenous cracker. By this, we followed the orders of the government as well as remembered our old tradition. We, Parkala Friends, have enjoyed bursting this cracker."

The technique of creating sound in bamboo is very simple. When air is pumped into a hollow bamboo which is filled with kerosene, heat gets generated. When the pipe is removed from the hole and it is lighted with fire, sound generates. This technique was used to shy away wild animals that used to attack fields in the olden days.