Cracker arrests down from last year: 'Far more noisy' Diwali, residents express dissatisfaction
Telegraph | 2 November 2024
Fewer people were prosecuted in Calcutta on Diwali night for bursting crackers compared to last year although many felt the city on Thursday witnessed one of the noisiest Diwalis in recent years.
Kolkata Police on Thursday arrested 265 persons for bursting or possessing illegal firecrackers. Last year, 361 people were booked for the same offences on Diwali night.
Many in pockets of south Calcutta like Gariahat, Ballygunge, Kasba, Alipore, EM Bypass and fringe areas like Sonarpur in the south and Barrackpore in the north complained of noisy firecrackers.
An Anandapur resident who attends a Diwali party at her friend’s Gariahat home every year said this year was “far more noisy” compared to last year.
“Last night the sound level kept going up. Too many crackers were bursting in the area. Obviously, people in that area were not following the rules and there was no one to stop them either,” she said.
A resident of EM Bypass said her three pets — all dogs — had a difficult time with the rampant sound of firecrackers.
“Two of them were hiding under the sofa till late night. The third skipped dinner,” she said.
She said unlike other years she did not lodge a police complaint this time as she felt no action was taken.
A senior officer in south Calcutta said prosecutions were made based on specific information and complaints.
“Practically, it is not always possible to locate the source of a sound if a specific address is not with us. Sometimes we get general complaints of loud firecrackers without any specific address. It becomes challenging to locate the source then,” he said.
Compared to the south, central Calcutta had a quieter Diwali.
“We were stationed on the terrace of Nandaram Market. We could hear shells being burst once in a while, not one after the other like in some areas,” said an officer of the central division.
The Bidhannagar commissionerate arrested 60 people from places like Lake Town, Baguiati, Narayanpur and Rajarhat for various offences such as bursting banned crackers, driving under the influence of alcohol and disorderly conduct.
The police also seized around 800kg of banned firecrackers from several places in Rajarhat, Baguiati, Narayanpur and Dakshindari, among others, a senior officer of the commissionerate said.
Apart from a noisy Diwali, several traffic violations were reported on the city’s roads as well.
The maximum traffic violations were committed by two-wheelers whose prosecutions peaked to almost 500 cases on Thursday night in the Kolkata Police jurisdiction, which was double what was reported last year.
“A total of 841 motorists were prosecuted for traffic violations, including 489 for riding without helmets,” said an officer.
Last year, 485 motorists were prosecuted for traffic violations in Calcutta on Diwali night.
Most of the violations were reported from parts of south, central Calcutta and pockets of the added areas.