Eye hospitals report zero firecracker injuries this year

BENGALURU: On the first day of Deepavali, no cracker-related injuries were reported from Minto Eye Hospital, which is part of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute. The hospital usually sees a number of such cases every year during this time.

As of 9.30 pm, TNSE checked with 12 other private and government hospitals and they too had not reported any firecracker injuries. Usha BK, chief operating officer of Shekar Eye Hospital, said the hospital reported no such cases on Saturday.

“There are fewer people bursting crackers this year and people are taking safety precautions as well. We had 4-5 cases since morning, none of which were related to firecracker injuries. During Deepavali last year, we had 12 cases of children suffering burns, redness, foreign particles entering the eye, one case of corneal tear and one case of eyelid tear caused by crackers.

All the cases at Shekar Hospital were in the 9 to 14 age group, of which three people were bystanders,” she said. She recommended precautionary measures while bursting firecrackers, such as avoiding tight clothing, wearing cotton clothes, using longer incense sticks and keeping a bucket of water nearby.

This year, the Karnataka government initially banned the sale and use of firecrackers, only to withdraw the rule later on. It said only green crackers would be allowed. These can be identified through the distinct green logo of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO), as well as a QR code.