Amid concerns of pollution, a total of 554 cases were registered in Chennai related to firecracker burning incidents beyond the time specified by the Supreme Court. In a press release issued on Monday, the Chennai Police said that crackers were allowed to burn for two hours on the occasion of Diwali.
On Sunday, the Chennai Police registered a total of 581 cases out of which 554 were related to the violations of the norms for bursting firecrackers.
“According to the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, on the pleas of the Government of Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of Deepavali, crackers were allowed to burst for 2 hours only from 6 am to 7 am and from 7 pm to 8 pm,” the press release stated.
“Accordingly, the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai Police, Tr.Sandeep Rai Rathore, IPS, on the advice of Additional Commissioners of Police, Joint Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of Police, under the supervision of Assistant Commissioners of Police, police teams led by Inspectors of Police were engaged in intensive surveillance in their jurisdiction,” it added.
“According to this, the police team engaged in intensive surveillance and from 11.11.2023 to today (13.11.2023) morning, 554 cases related to bursting of firecrackers beyond the time specified by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, 8 cases related to running firecracker shop in violation of Tamil Nadu Government rules and 19 cases regarding bursting of firecrackers with excessive noise, a total of 581 cases have been registered,” the police said in its statement.
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The state government had allowed bursting of green crackers on Diwali.
Tamil Nadu's Sivakasi, considered as the fireworks capital of India, has in recent years switched to manufacturing green crackers, avoiding the use of barium chloride and has sticked to the formula approved by the Supreme Court in order to address the environmental concerns.