Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday greeted people of the state on the occasion of Diwali, the festival of lights.
Wishing the people happiness and prosperity, he exhorted them to use crackers to the minimum, as these cause air and sound pollution and harm the environment, an official statement said.
The Lucknow administration has also appealed to people, especially children, to ensure that their revelry does not harm the environment.
Over the past one week, on the call of district magistrate Raj Shekhar, more than 2.5 lakh students from various schools have taken oath not to burst high decibel crackers and adhere to the time fixed by the Supreme Court for bursting of crackers on Diwali.
Meanwhile, security has been upped across the state on the festival.
A senior home department official told IANS that security and local intelligence agencies have been asked to step up vigil.
"We are focussing on areas where there is large presence of people, busy markets, malls and eateries," a police official informed.
Security has been also beefed up on the Indo-Nepal border, following unrest in the neighbouring country and intelligence inputs that the porous border might be used by subversive elements to sneak into India during Diwali.
