Diwali, the festival of lights and lanterns is here. Diwali 2020 has begun on November 12 this year and will go on till November 16. This festival is one of the most anticipated times of the year, a celebration of joy and happiness. And while we celebrate this festival, we must also remember that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. So washing hands or using hand sanitisers must b done with precautionary care. Washing hands, maintaining social distance and wearing a mask in public places is a must. Because of convenience and ease, a lot of us have switched to using hand sanitisers instead of washing hands. But during Diwali one needs to be extra careful about using sanitisers and keeping them in a safe place, away from any sort of flammable objects in the home. While lighting diyas or crackers, ensure no one has used sanitisers as they are highly flammable. There has been a case when even lighting a candle near a sanitiser, a woman suffered massive burns.

Most sanitisers are alcohol-based which makes them highly flammable. So lighting of diyas after you have freshly used a sanitiser is risky. Also during Diwali, most of us light diyas, earthen lamps and keep them in windows, doors or even within the house corner. Ensure that there is no sanitiser kept in any of the spots where you will be placing these diyas. In March itself, there was warning issued by doctors about these hand sanitizers being highly inflammable, after a man was severely burnt after using it near cooking gas.

Since most of us are likely going to be indoors for the festival, it is better to use soaps to wash our hands. If you have guests coming over, ask them to wash their hands with soap as well. Be careful while clicking pictures when people pose around the lights and lighting. To avoid any risks, keep all the sanitisers inside for the evenings. Although there is cracker ban in some places, if children are going to lighting green crackers or just the fuljhadi, ensure they have not applied sanitiser. This Diwali 2020, let us be a little aware and alert about these things and have safe celebrations. Wishing you all have a happy and safe festive days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 14, 2020 10:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).