The menace of the early-1990s firecracker raj during Kali Puja and Diwali seems to have returned to Kolkata.
Pockets of Kolkata, especially in its southern parts as well as the fringe areas, had a Kali Puja night kind of a feel on Wednesday with incessant bursting of fireworks being heard till late into the night, defying all norms in place.
“Our control room has received around 10 complaints in this regard,” said a West Bengal Pollution Control Board official. Environmentalists claimed the figure hardly reflects the reality on ground and in the air.
“The noise started around 8pm and continued till midnight. It seemed that Kali Puja had arrived early. My elderly mother-in-law and pets suffered despite closing all the windows. I fear worse for Kali Puja and Diwali nights,” said Sunita Chanda (name changed on request) from Ballygunge area. “I have not complained to either police or WBPCB because it’s of little use,” said Chanda.
“All kinds of fireworks, including rockets and chocolate bombs, were burst all over our neighbourhood,” said Prabir Purkait in Kasba in south Kolkata.
This correspondent spoke to several environment experts, activists and legal professionals as well as present and former officials to understand how the situation has come to such a pass in a city that was once known as a “model of noise control” in the country. Most admit that a series of violations as well as policy failures, by design or default, have led to the present situation.
90 to 125 decibel shift
Following Calcutta High Court’s order and using a Central Pollution Control Board study as base, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, in the late-1990s, announced 90 decibel as maximum limit of firework blast noise to be measured from a distance of five metres. After a national limit of 125 decibel, to be measured from 4 metres, was announced by the Union Government, the fireworks manufacturers moved court multiple times, demanding a similar limit in West Bengal but the 90-decibel limit stood in Bengal as states have the power to make any national standard more stringent. Even in 2022, the WBPCB iterated the limit based on a scientific study that it had carried out under the National Green Tribunal order.
However, after green fireworks were introduced, the fireworks lobby stepped up pressure taking help of a few political leaders in power and administrative officials, WBPCB announced a 125-decibel limit for the state, like the rest of the country in the name of uniformity in October, 2023. Incidentally, the order was issued despite no court order asking WBPCB to make such a shift. According to green activists, apart from allowing noisier fireworks, it sent a message right across the society that the administration is no more serious about noise control in a state that once was a model in the country.
Mushrooming of illegal fireworks factories
Legally, the state has around 25 to 30 firework manufacturing units, cleared by either the Union government unit Petroleum Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) or district magistrates in case of units having smaller production capacity but in reality, thousands operate in West Bengal.
Last year, a police survey submitted to the then chief secretary mentioned over 5,000 such units. “I have complained about these units several times to the state government and even moved court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has several times directed the state administration to close them but nothing has happened on ground,” said environmentalist Biswajit Mukherjee, a former WBPCB chief law officer. Mukherjee alleged that this gross negligence of administration had led to illegal units mushrooming and often meeting with accidents that have caused at least 100 deaths over the past two decades.
Departments play pass-the-buck game
Pre-2023, WBPCB used to play the pivotal role in noise pollution control in the state. Police, though mandated by law for taking action against violation, largely looked up to PCB for guidance and technical help. However, under political pressure facilitated by the fireworks lobby, WBPCB’s role was curtailed and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department, with hardly any technical knowledge about the issue, was given the responsibility to look after the sector; diluting the monitoring.
Two central government agencies in the fray, National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) which has been given the responsibility of formulation of green fireworks and related capacity development and Petroleum Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) hardly have taken part in monitoring with little manpower being shown as the reason. All departments point to each other; and monitoring reached a nadir. “It seemed that central and state agencies have connived to turn the monitoring of fireworks into a farce,” alleged environment activist Naba Dutta. “At least 14 people have lost lives since the past two decades opposing the firework menace; and the situation is getting worse,” added Mukherjee.
Poor monitoring, no testing
Earlier, PCB used to test the firework samples and clear those which were able to pass the test. This year, not even a single firework sample could be technically tested to see whether they are valid or not despite bazi bazars sending about 70 samples to the police and the PCB setting up a firework testing lab in Haldia spending millions.
WBPCB claimed that they neither have the capacity nor the mandate to do the testing, while NEERI communicated to the state administration that they would only be able to test the samples if sent to their Nagpur headquarters, impossible in such a short time. Even the joint inspection of state and Union government agencies, that was carried out last year under court orders, has not taken place this year and violation seems to have become the norm. Even the small roadside firework sellers, strictly banned till a couple of years ago, are back and selling largely illegal fireworks.
QR code violation
The Supreme Court mandated that only the fireworks that have valid QR codes approved by NEERI, should be allowed to be sold. But the order has become largely ornamental in the city as a physical survey and verification shows that roughly two-thirds of the fireworks do not have valid QR codes, which, once opened, are supposed to showcase signed NEERI certificate, chemical composition and related data.
The situation has not been helped by the fact that the NEERI app, which is to be used to decode the QR code, is no longer functional. Using of the code is important to ensure that the documents, opening up in the code, are factual and not false.
“We have checked about 20 samples in several shops in various bazi bazars and found that roughly two-third of the samples from several brands, mostly those being brought from Sivakasi (Tamil Nadu), do not have valid QR codes. While some of those are not opening at all, others invalid ones are showing only company names, and even YouTube videos on firework bursting,” said environmentalist Sudipta Bhattacharya, who accompanied this correspondent to various bazi bazars on Wednesday.
Timeline goes for a toss
Despite the Supreme Court mandating a specific timeline for firework bursting, 8pm to 10pm only for green fireworks, the order gets hardly implemented on ground. “We have been monitoring the firework bursting over several years and our experience shows that the bursting actually starts in full scale after 10pm; after the court fixed deadline ends,” said Dulal Bose, physician and former sheriff of Kolkata.
A senior police officer admitted that it is virtually impossible to control the bursting once the fireworks get into the market. “It’s a fact that the number of complaints often increases in our control room after 10 pm,” said a senior WBPCB official. The experiences are the same in the police control room as well as in the control room run by environment platform Sabuj Mancha.
Online marketing
Despite the apex court clearly barring online firework sales, such trade has been rampant all over India, including West Bengal. A Google search throws up hundreds of such selling points, including ones in Kolkata, which offer home delivery of fireworks.
“I have clear information that major buyers, who spend lakhs on procuring and bursting fireworks, have mostly procured the fireworks online this year to avoid hassles. These fireworks are altogether beyond any monitoring, mostly illegal and catering to high pollution load,” complained environment activist Naba Dutta of green platform Sabuj Mancha.