Flouting of cracker ban takes AQI level to 500 in Jalandhar

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 14

The lax attitude of the police and civil authorities in overlooking violations of the Supreme Court orders on bursting fire-crackers in the 8 pm to 10 pm window on Diwali night seems to have led to a spike in AQI levels in the city once again.

The maximum AQI in Jalandhar remained at 500 on Tuesday for the second day with the average being at 233. The average AQI which had touched 291 last week owing to stubble-burning cases had dipped to less than 152 after the rainfall last Friday but increased once again after the indiscriminate use of crackers. The crackers were being burst till the wee hours of Monday and then again on Monday night. Fewer crackers were burst on Tuesday night but the explosive sounds could be heard intermittently.

Notably, the entire police staff was on duty on Diwali night but no FIR was lodged anywhere. “Our teams were on night patrol in the mohallas of their beat areas. We told them to remain in a persuasive mode rather than action mode.

They went to all those places where crackers were being burst after 10 pm and persuaded the families to stop. But they of course could not enter houses and check the rooftops or terraces where violations were being made,” said DCP Ankur Gupta.

DCP Jagmohan Singh added, “Since there was no complaint, there has been no FIR against anyone for bursting crackers beyond the 8 pm to 10 pm window. We, however, lodged some FIRs against shopkeepers selling crackers illegally since these could only be sold by authorised shopkeepers at Burlton Park.”

Officials from the civil administration said that lodging FIRs on the day of festival does not generally go down well with society. “People need to understand their responsibility towards society and refrain from indulging in violations, especially those that lead to environmental issues. We indeed tried to spread awareness on buying only the green crackers and using them minimally,” said DC Vishesh Sarangal.

The crackers not just caused air pollution, but also led to littering of roads due to waste from the crackers that were seen lying for the second day along the roadsides in several colonies of the city.

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