No one has been booked in Ranchi under relevant sections of the law for violating government guidelines on checking pollution during Diwali despite blatant violation of curbs on bursting crackers during the festival and the day after, highly placed sources in the government admitted on Wednesday.

“Nobody lodged any complaint with the local police against violators during Diwali. So, no FIRs were lodged. Even suo motu cases were not filed,” said an IAS rank official in Ranchi, requesting anonymity.

An order issued by Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) two days prior to Diwali clearly stated that people found violating rules set by the pollution watchdog would be booked under section 188 of IPC and Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1981. A copy of the order is in possession of The Telegraph Online.

The makeshift cracker market set up at Jaipal Singh Stadium in Ranchi on Saturday (November 14). None of the shops displayed notices announcing the availability of green crackers as was mandated by Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) Picture by Manob Chowdhary

The JSPCB order set a time limit of two hours, from 8pm to 10pm, for bursting firecrackers across the state, and allowed only “green crackers” in at least 14 urban areas of Jharkhand, including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro. But bursting of firecrackers in public places was prohibited.

However, Diwali revelry started as early as 6pm on November 14 and the fireworks continued unabated till late in the night, causing noise as well as air pollution. In fact, Diwali noise this year was higher than last year in some parts of the city, JSPCB officials said.

While the government permitted sale of only “green crackers” in the city, there was no effective mechanism to check whether cracker traders followed the rules, sources said. A highly placed source in the government said that the guideline for Diwali was issued too late, and it was impossible to follow all the rules when the festival was only 48 hours away.

“Green crackers are not even available in all parts of Jharkhand. Most traders already had ordinary crackers in their stock,” the source said.

JSPCB member secretary Rajiv Lochan Bakshi said that the pollution watchdog only issued guidelines for pollution control, and it was up to law enforcement agencies to ensure that rules were not violated. “We cannot take action against individuals,” he said.

Ranchi SSP S.K. Jha said he did not have data on the number of people who were booked for violating pollution control norms during Diwali.

Officials are now worried that social distancing norms may go for a toss during Chhath too, as it would be impossible to control a crowd of devotees at Chhath ghats during the festival.