Many Kolkatans woke up to the sound of blaring loudspeakers on Thursday morning and as many complained of incessant bursting of firecrackers in their neighbourhoods on Wednesday night and the next morning.
Only 35 people were arrested for bursting firecrackers across the city on Thursday, making many people wonder whether the police did enough to prevent the noise menace.
Environmentalist Subhas Datta said he and his wife spent a sleepless night at their Howrah home on Wednesday because of loud music and the sound of firecrackers.
“I woke up at 2.30am and tried to sleep with the pillow on my ears, but in vain. My wife has respiratory problems. She, too, suffered,” Datta told The Telegraph.
Not a single arrest was made in Howrah for bursting banned firecrackers on Wednesday night, police officers who did not want to be quoted said.
Only green fireworks were allowed to be lit on Thursday morning, from 6am to 8am, on the occasion of Chhath Puja. However, complaints of violations poured in from across the city on Wednesday and Thursday.
A resident of a housing society off EM Bypass in Anandapur in southeast Kolkata said she heard firecrackers being burst all through Thursday in her neighbourhood.
According to police records, maximum complaints were reported from Maniktala, Ultadanga, Tangra, Phoolbagan, Cossipore, Chitpore and areas adjoining EM Bypass, such as Anandapur and Survey Park.