Police on Wednesday announced helpline numbers on social media for people to report against crackers in the city.

The move is in line with Tuesday’s high court order banning firecrackers during Kali Puja and Diwali and asking the police to execute the ban.

People can dial 100 or 9432610444 to report anything related to firecrackers.

“Say ‘No’ To Firecrackers”, read a poster, along with the helpline numbers, published by the city police.

“Strict action will be taken if anyone is found violating the ban on firecrackers,” a senior cop in Lalbazar said.

A person can be booked under the Calcutta police suburban act and the explosive substances act for violating the ban.

Depending on the nature of the offence and the amount of seizure, if someone is charged with sections of the explosive substances act, he/she can be arrested. The charges carry a maximum punishment of three years in jail.

The other penal sections that vary from disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant (Section 188 of the IPC) to sections of the Calcutta police suburban act result only in prosecutions and a fine of Rs 50.

The adjoining commissionerate areas, including Bidhannagar, Howrah, and Barrackpore, have already started holding awareness campaigns and raiding various places to seize firecrackers.

“We have circulated advisories to all police stations to implement the firecracker ban. The general level of awareness is high this year. The amount of seizure is comparatively less this year,” an officer of the Howrah commissionerate said.

Bidhannagar police have started moving around Salt Lake, New Town, and Lake Town with loudhailers to announce the ban and holding meetings with people and asking them to follow the ban on buying, possessing and bursting firecrackers.

The high court order mentioned the state had in its affidavit in court assured that measures had been taken to ensure complete implementation of the ban.

“The state assures the court that measures have already been taken to ensure the complete implementation of the order and no effort would be spared to see that the air quality in the state is not polluted and the relevant order carried out without any breach,” the court order read.

Police stations across the city have started holding anti-cracker awareness rallies and meetings with residents of highrises to make people aware of the court order.

Raids and random searches were carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, the police said.

At least three people were arrested in Beniapukur, Tangra and the Survey Park area with firecrackers on Tuesday evening.

One of them had 12kg firecrackers, another 10.5kg of chocolate bombs and the third 10 packets of multi-coloured firecrackers weighing around 1.2kg.

“This year, our work has been reduced to a large extent because people are visibly scared to violate the ban. Every year around this time we seize large quantities of banned firecrackers; but this year, the seizure has been almost negligible,” an officer in the city police’s south division said.

The court has directed the police to announce phone numbers on their websites and on hoardings and boards prominently across the state for people to report the use of firecrackers.

“Such numbers should be attended to so that the complaints are immediately addressed without the identity of the complainants being revealed. The relevant numbers should be put up on the website and display boards by November 12, 2020,” the court had said in its order.