12 Kolkata: Year-end celebrations in Kolkata turned chaotic as soon as the clock struck 12 on Wednesday night, with large-scale bursting of crackers. There were two incidents of fire and initial reports suggested that fireworks were the primary cause in both cases.
The first fire broke out in a room on the first floor of the G+3 Telephone Bhawan on CR Avenue. Officials said the first flames were seen around 11.30 pm on Tuesday. Five fire tenders rushed to the spot as the flames spread to the second floor. It took firemen almost three hours to bring it under control. The second occurred on the balcony of a locked flat on the 36th floor of a 39-storey building in Avidipta II complex in Mukundapur at 12.28 am on Wednesday. Cops said one fire tender attended to the call as the in-house firefighting staff of the complex managed to douse the flames by 1 am.
With noise levels seemingly exceeding acceptable limits, mobile units of WBPCB were out to monitor fireworks violations. There was a 11.55 pm-12.30 am cracker window. A WBPCB official said though there was no official complaint at the command and control centre, fireworks displays were more prevalent in south Kolkata than in the north, with pockets like New Alipore, Behala, Kasba, Picnic Garden, and Tollygunge leading the race. People living near the airport, Sinthee, Dum Dum, Salt Lake, and Baguiati also complained of crackers bursting before and beyond the permissible window.