Shillong, Oct 24: Like the rest of the country, Meghalaya also celebrated Diwali on Monday with people illuminating their houses with various kinds of decorative lights apart from lighting the popular traditional diyas.

Last year, excited youngsters during the day would gleefully burst crackers to commemorate the festival of lights but with Cyclone Sitrang hitting Meghalaya as well as the entire North East region, spirits were dampened but despite such a setback throngs of Hindu households and temples were vibrantly decorated along with public places. Roadsides, shops and buildings wore decorative looks with various designs as they were decked in colourful lights.

The festival of lights, Diwali was celebrated by Shillong Gaushala Committee at Moulai Gaushala, Shillong. The whole cowshed was lit up with the light of the lamps. All the people chanted prayers to the cow mother and after that the prasad was distributed. This is then followed with women and children lighting up the entire cowshed with lamps and children would burst firecrackers in celebration.

Meanwhile, the East Khasi Hills District administration had issued strict guidelines to follow the Supreme Court order’s time limit for the bursting of low decibel and low emission crackers from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The sale, purchase and procurement of foreign-made firecrackers, use of joined firecrackers (series crackers or laris) which cause huge air, noise and solid waste problems and firecrackers generating noise level exceeding l25 dB (Al) or 145 dB (C) pk at 4 meters distance from the point of bursting were prohibited.

It also prohibits the bursting of crackers within 100 meters of hospitals, nursing homes, primary and district health care centers, educational institutions, courts, religious places or any other areas which may have been declared as silent zones by the concerned authorities.