Despite court order, crackers burst with impunity

SNS, SILIGURI, 5 NOVEMBER 2021: The noise demon stalked people in Siliguri town and its outskirts in the night of Diwali yesterday as people flouted the Supreme Court order that had ordered the use of only green crackers from 8 pm to 10 pm.

The crackers, however, started bursting from dawn and the volume grew louder as the night progressed. The bursting of firecrackers started early evening today too.

Many believed that the two-hour window provided by the court facilitated a section of the people to use sound crackers, while many residents called up the police for the disturbance they caused, it is learnt.

Police said they have detained some rule violators.

"Who will ensure that the fireworks that are being burst are green crackers? The promptness of the police was not enough to prevent people from bursting crackers on Diwali. They started bursting from early evening, but it went up in the night. It is very unfortunate, especially amid times like this," said a resident of Ashram Para, Mainak Mukherjee.

Meanwhile, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data, the air quality continued to remain moderate today.

"There was indiscriminate bursting of crackers both fireworks and sound crackers the whole night, as people paid no heed to the order of the Supreme Court on Diwali. The firecrackers which were not certified as green crackers were used. We have observed that most of the crackers being used were banned ones. Many housing complexes had also used crackers. Unfortunately, apart from the town, remote villages also witnessed the bursting spree," said the programme coordinator of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, Animesh Bose.