The state pollution control board has urged police to increase vigilance at 11 hotspots across Kolkata and some adjoining areas where banned crackers were indiscriminately burst last year.
The board has also invited representatives from housing societies for a meeting on Thursday to reiterate that the onus to abide by the cracker norms this Diwali also lies with the residents.
The “hotspots” include parts of Behala, Kasba, Ballygunge, Bhowanipore, Burrabazar, Lake Town, Bangur and Ultadanga.
These and other areas were identified after scientists from the pollution control board (PCB) mapped “impulse noise” — unwanted sound characterised by sharp but very brief increases in decibel volume — from different pockets of the city and compared it with the ambient noise on the Kali Puja night.
“Impulse is the noise level a cracker throws up when it bursts. In these pockets the ambient noise level had become equal to impulse noise level owing to continuous bursting of banned crackers,” Kalyan Rudra, the chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board told The Telegraph.
“We have asked the police to remain extra vigilant.”
A majority of the areas featured on the list of hotspots (see chart) had witnessed residents bursting crackers, a significant number included banned ones, well beyond the apex court-finalised timeline between 8pm and 10pm on October 24 last year, senior PCB officials said.
This year, Kali Puja is scheduled on Sunday.
Ahead of the celebrations, the PCB has invited the presidents and secretaries of housing societies and residents welfare associations for a meeting to inform them about the responsibilities of the residents while bursting crackers.
“The intimations have been sent and we have also invited senior police officials to be present at the meeting so that all aspects of the guidelines on the use of green crackers and the timings can be discussed threadbare,” said a senior PCB official.
The Supreme Court on November 7 reiterated that its directive concerning the use of green crackers applies nationwide.
The response came in light of a plea from Rajasthan, which asserted that there was a misconception that the court’s instructions were only meant for Delhi-NCR.
“We have provided seven drones to the police which will be able to monitor the noise levels and the levels of pollution. A team of senior officials will be at the Integrated Command and Control Centre to monitor the information gathered by these drones,” the official said.
“Green crackers will emit a sound below 125 decibels. So one can easily make out the difference between banned and green crackers when they burst.”
Senior officers of Kolkata police said the officers-in-charge of respective police stations have visited housing societies and localities and informed residents about the apex court directive on the use of green crackers within the stipulated timeline.
“We have also asked the members of the Kali Puja committees to ensure that banned crackers were not used during immersion processions. Any violation will invite action
according to the provisions of law,” said an officer in Lalbazar.
