Water gun, balloon celebrators rain on Kuwait national parades

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Celebrating Nationwide and Liberation Days is a pleasure for teenagers and adults in Kuwait. Persons are used to happening parades on the Gulf Highway and on the Khairan and chalet areas. For the reason that Nineteen Eighties, youngsters had been used to spraying white foam on one another, and few celebrated by spraying water.

A number of years in the past, the federal government banned utilizing foam spray throughout the celebrations, so celebrators added one other merchandise to their celebration gear: water balloons. Added to an increase in utilizing water weapons in recent times, this sort of celebration brought on large consumption of water, which lead the federal government to advise folks to abstain from celebrating on this means.

Whereas the Ministry of Inside introduced banning spraying water from water weapons and throwing balloons throughout the nationwide celebrations, police had been seen permitting youngsters to play with water weapons and throw balloons at gatherings and parades on the Gulf Highway. In the meantime, the Ministry of Electrical energy and Water introduced launching an consciousness marketing campaign towards losing water throughout nationwide celebrations. But, evidently folks didn’t take the marketing campaign critically, because the celebrators used 1000’s of balloons stuffed with water throughout the vacation.

For the previous two years, there have been no celebrations as a result of pandemic and banning of gathering. So, youngsters had been very excited to hitch the celebrations this 12 months. They expressed their pleasure by throwing lots of of water balloons on folks and automobiles on the parade. Whereas the throwing of balloons was anticipated by those that drove or walked on the Gulf Highway, this apply was not anticipated in different areas the place the damp celebrations spilled over.

A number of folks complained of being attacked by youngsters in numerous neighborhoods removed from the seaside and the Gulf Highway. These incidents are much more harmful since folks in these locations should not anticipating such assault. A person in Hawally was critically injured after being attacked by a balloon thrown on to his eye. One other woman additionally complained of being a sufferer of a water balloon assault in Salmiya.

Head of the Al-Bahar Eye Middle, Dr Abdullah Al-Baghli, stated that throwing balloons stuffed with water on the face and eyes might trigger severe accidents. “Such detrimental habits ought to cease because it’s dangerous for the well being and waste of water,” he stated in statements revealed by Al-Qabas each day.

“The emergency division on the Middle obtained 92 instances of accidents in two days solely (twenty fifth and twenty sixth of February). These instances embrace 75 corneal abrasions or cuts, six hits close to the attention, one minimize wound to the eyelid, a blow across the eye that led to an orbital bone fracture, inside bleeding within the eye, a case of bleeding and exterior wound within the eye, and 6 different instances of accidents attributable to throwing balloons,” added Baghli, saying the variety of accidents on the whole this 12 months was decrease than the earlier years earlier than the pandemic.