Orders on restricting crackers go up in smoke; no case filed

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, November 13

Even as the government order regarding bursting of crackers on Diwali went up in smoke with people failing to adhere to the time window of 8 pm to 10 pm, not a single case of anyone being penalised for creating pollution and disturbing people has come to notice.

In most parts of the city, Diwali enthusiasts started bursting high-decibel firecrackers around 6 pm and continued till late in the night. The loud noises started again in the morning on Monday as some of them could not finish their stock of fire-crackers last night.

“The government had allowed bursting of green fire-crackers for two hours but did nothing to ensure that the same is implemented with strictness,” said Rajinder Singh, a local resident. He said that every time the administration fails to implement its own orders, it increases the chances of future violations.

“If the administration has failed to implement the ban orders now, it is likely that people would not take these orders seriously even on Gurpurab, Christmas and New Year,” said another resident, Kewal Sharma.

While announcing the two-hour window for bursting crackers on Diwali, the government had also fixed timings for Gurpurab, Christmas and New Year. As per the orders, bursting of firecrackers on Gurpurab is allowed from 4 am to 5 am and 9 pm to 10 pm. On Christmas, the timings for bursting crackers would be from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am and on New Year eve, it has been allowed from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am.