Residents hail decision, want strict execution

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 16

While city residents are happy over the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s orders about restricted hours for burning firecrackers on the Diwali night, they are skeptical about the implementation of the orders. They stated it would be a tough test for the court to get these orders implemented. “A few people had started bursting crackers around three days ago. You can hear loud noises every night, even as there are three days left to Diwali,” said a resident, Kulrattan Singh.

Moreover, the residents feel that as the administration had not allotted licences for firecrackers’ sale till today, their use by a few residents raises questions. “One wonders from where these people got crackers when the sale had not begun. This is the reason why people feel that high court orders would be hard to implement,” said another resident, Lakhbir Singh.

However, they stated that the decision of the court is welcome because people would be allowed to use crackers from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm only. A senior citizen, Satwinder Singh, said, “It would certainly make a difference. The local administration and the police should try to implement the orders. Clear signals in this regard from the authorities would be enough to make people follow the instructions.” He said if the authorities could dissuade farmers from burning the crop residue, bursting of crackers could easily be stopped.

The noise and air pollution caused on Diwali night has been a cause of concern for citizens for the past many years, especially when the city residents are known for their lavish expenditure on firecrackers.