Dubious ranking: Lucknow at top in flouting SC order on crackers

LUCKNOW: The two-hour deadline set by the Supreme Court for bursting firecrackers was blatantly flouted across Uttar Pradesh for two days - on Diwali and day after. This has come to the fore in the data of complaints related to firecrackers received at UP 100.

The data, accessed exclusively by TOI, also shows that the bursting of crackers was at the peak in UP during the banned hours. Lucknow topped the list with highest 141 complaints. It was followed by Ghaziabad (127), Gautam Budh Nagar (84) and Kanpur (83). In all, 1,418 calls relating to firecrackers were made from across the state at UP 100 in two days - starting from wee hours of November 7 till November 8. As many as 660 complaints were lodged from 10pm to 1am on Diwali night. The Supreme Court had set 8pm to 10pm deadline for bursting crackers.

Majority of complaints were about high-decibel crackers

Police said that majority of complaints were about high-decibel crackers, followed by fires breaking out due to crackers. UP 100 officials claimed police teams were sent to the spots to address the complants.

SSP Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithani said we tried to resolve issues at some places, but the task was huge. We will try to do better from next year. SSP Ghaziabad Vaibhav Krishna told TOI that they received 127 complaints pertaining to firecrackers.

“We remained on toes from November 7 to 9 in compliance of SC order and also made few crackdowns on late night fire cracker bursting and at other places we pleaded and requested people as bursting cracker is harmful for health and also pollution,” added Krishna.

UP 100 data also shows that maximum number of complaints were reported from the highly urban districts of the state, while rural districts like Auraiya, Kannauj, Kaushambi and Sonbhadra recorded only two complaints each. DIG law & order Praveen Kumar Tripathi said orders had been issued to district SPs to ensure compliance of the SC order. “In comparison to previous year, a perceptible change was witnessed across the state,” added Tripathi.