A vacation division bench of Calcutta High Court on Wednesday declined to issue any order on a petition challenging the state pollution control board’s decision to raise the maximum permissible noise limit for firecrackers in Bengal from 90 to 125 decibels.
“The court is not an expert to decide whether noise over 90 decibels is harmful or not. So, we are not going to issue any order in this case,” the division bench headed by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya said.
The bench, however, decided that the case would be heard by a regular division bench of the court after three weeks. The court reopens after the festive break on November 16. Diwali falls on November 12.
The vacation bench also asked the lawyer for the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to file an affidavit before the regular bench that would hear the case.
“The green firecrackers… should be manufactured as per the formulation of CSIR-NEERI (and the) noise level limits for the sound emitting green crackers shall be within 125dB (decibel)…” reads the October 17 order issued by PCB member secretary Rajesh Kumar.
The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) functions under the Centre.
The change, in conformity with the national norm, dilutes the noise rule in Bengal, where the firecracker sound limit has been 90 decibels for many years now. The order says it was issued to clear “confusion regarding the permissible noise limit for green fireworks” and argues that a 2018 Supreme Court directive on fireworks does not mention a noise limit.
The lawyer appearing for the petitioner said the PCB’s decision to raise the noise limit would hamper the general health of the common citizenry. The petition prayed for the court to ask the board to withdraw its notification raising the limit from 90 to 125 decibels.
Appearing for the PCB, advocate Nayan Chand Behani said: “The Supreme Court has permitted the use of the green firecrackers up to a noise level of 125 decibels. The apex court must have taken the decision after consulting experts.”
The lawyer also said that many other states have already allowed the use of green crackers up to 125 decibels.
After hearing lawyers from both sides, the vacation division bench declined to issue any order at this stage.
Since 1999, the permissible noise level for firecrackers across the country, except Bengal, was 125 decibels (measured 4m from the source of the sound). In Bengal, the limit had been 90 decibels (measured 5m from the source).