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regular-article-logo Monday, 06 May 2024

Pollution control board lists cracker hotspots in Calcutta

The PCB, like earlier years, will maintain a control room to accept complaints and have mobile teams on the road to locate violations

Jayanta Basu Calcutta Published 13.11.20, 03:08 AM
The board pointed out that the onus to implement the high court’s blanket ban on fireworks lies on the police. Last year, the level of most toxic PM2.5 pollutants rose 10 times over the national permissible limit in Calcutta on Diwali night.  

The board pointed out that the onus to implement the high court’s blanket ban on fireworks lies on the police. Last year, the level of most toxic PM2.5 pollutants rose 10 times over the national permissible limit in Calcutta on Diwali night.   Shutterstock

The West Bengal pollution control board has sent a list of firework violation hotspots to both city and state police based on cracker-related complaints received last year.

A senior official of the state board said on Thursday that this would help ensure better monitoring this year.

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The board pointed out that the onus to implement the high court’s blanket ban on fireworks lies on the police. Last year, the level of most toxic PM2.5 pollutants rose 10 times over the national permissible limit in Calcutta on Diwali night.

“We have prepared a list of firework bursting hotspots with both Calcutta Police and state police based on the last year complaints,” said Rajesh Kumar, member secretary of state PCB.

Last year, PCB lodged 15 firework-related complaints to the cops on the basis of the environmental protection act, but not much progress has been made on those cases. “I have to check the current status of those complaints,” said Kumar.

The PCB, like earlier years, will maintain a control room to accept complaints and have mobile teams on the road to locate violations.

The green lobby said that unless the administration swung into action immediately to confiscate fireworks being illegally sold, the high court order will be largely flouted.

“We have written to the chief minister demanding appropriate government order to implement the high court order about blanket ban on fireworks throughout the state as till now we could not see any serious effort on part of administration to implement the order seriously,” said Naba Dutta of green platform Sabuj Mancha.

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