The Greater Chennai Police, in a statement, said that 581 cases were registered over the Deepavali weekend – between Saturday, November 11 and Monday, November 13 (morning) – for not adhering to the state and the Supreme Court’s (SC) rules for celebrations involving firecrackers. A total of 554 cases were registered for bursting firecrackers beyond the time specified by the SC. Firecrackers were only allowed to be burst between 6am and 7am and 7pm and 8pm over the Deepavali weekend.
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The statement said while eight cases were booked for running firecracker shops which violated the Tamil Nadu Government rules, 19 cases were registered against people who burst firecrackers that made excessive noise.
The Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore, had directed increased surveillance in the city. Close to 18,000 officers were stationed across the city limits to closely monitor celebrations. Police had said that fines will be imposed on those who burst crackers without adhering to the norms.
The SC had given permission only for green crackers this Deepavali as they are less noise polluting and are graded as low emission crackers. The decibel level for green crackers crackers stay below 125, which is the permissible limit.The apex court also banned the use of firecrackers that are filled with barium salts and other banned chemicals. Joined crackers (rows of crackers joined together) were also not to be used as per the court’s order.