No balloons please: Volunteering group

BENGALURU: The soaring patriotic spirit on the occasion of Independence Day is best encapsulated by balloons painted in the tricolour and dotting the skyline. But the balloons, notwithstanding the festive spectacle that they create, are anything but eco-friendly, asserts a Bengaluru organisation that has taken up cudgels against their usage.
Beautiful Bharat, a volunteering organisation hailing from Bengaluru, has started a campaign, hashtagged #NoBalloonsPlease, and set social media abuzz against balloon usage, shedding light on their environmental impact.In its online petition that has drawn around 5,800 signatories, Beautiful Bharat highlights the threats posed by balloons to wildlife and marine ecosystems. These seemingly innocuous inflatables, once released into the sky, eventually descend, polluting the land they touch down upon.
“As we approach Independence Day, a plea emerges from environmentally conscious individuals and groups nationwide. Considering the grave repercussions of such practices on our ecosystem, we earnestly implore everyone to eschew balloon usage, especially the release of tricolour balloons during celebrations,” the petition reads.
X (formerly Twitter) users have rallied behind the cause. Deepak N posted, “Amidst celebrations, let us extend our respect for Mother Earth by forgoing balloons. They’re not just symbols of festivity, but also of environmental degradation. #NoBalloonsPlease.” Aditya Mukarji, another user, called for collective responsibility. “We need to refuse balloons. Need all parents & children join in to say #NoBalloonsPlease.”