2 booked, 7 detained for bursting firecrackers beyond 10 pm deadline in Mumbai

Mumbai police registered the first FIR and detained at least seven people on Wednesday night for violating the Supreme Court’s directive and bursting firecrackers after 10 pm.

Trombay police station filed the first FIR against unidentified people for allegedly bursting crackers around midnight yesterday in Mankhurd.

The FIR was registered following a complaint by activist Shakeel Ahmed, who also shot a video of the violators and submitted it to the police.

The accused have been booked under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Bombay Police Act.

Last night, Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Police Abhishek Trimukhe said that action would be taken against those who flouted the order of the Supreme Court in connection with the bursting of firecrackers.

He further said that the police received a good response overall and most of them followed the order of the apex court.

“Public gave us a good response overall. Most of them have followed the police’s request and the Supreme Court’s order. Legal action is being taken against those who didn’t follow the order. Seven people have been detained,” he said.

The number of people booked or detained, however, pales in comparison to the hundreds of complaints received by the control room. In addition, scores of netizens shared details of violations, mostly in housing societies, with Mumbai Police online.

The violations were reported across the city.

@MumbaiPolice @CPMumbaiPolice Super loud deafening fire crackers in Hiranandani Powai even post 10pm. Please do something. Have called 100 more than thrice already!

— Mohit Hirlekar (@moheeat) November 7, 2018

@MumbaiPolice people bursting crackers till 12- 1 am in the night sometimes till early morning 4 – 6 am… No one responding when we dial 100. Please police patrol needed near Kandivali West residential areas.

— Natasha Dias (@nattyness21) November 7, 2018

@MumbaiPolice Firecrackers are being burst continuously in Colaba. Well past the 10 pm deadline. Can the police please attend to this.

— Janjri Jasani (@Janjri) November 7, 2018

@MumbaiPolice #CrackerBan Rawalapada market Dahisar East.. 2 hours beyond supreme court guide lines, seems no one is bothered

— Yash Kapoor (@YashKapoor28) November 7, 2018

@MumbaiPolice can someone pls patrol in tolaram society chembur, mumbai as ppl are bursting crackers.. This is really annoying at 4 in the morning

— babul solanki (@solanki_babul) November 7, 2018

While officials maintained that they acted on every complaint they could, they cited that it was practically impossible to address each one.

Further, by the time the control room would alert the local unit and a patrolling van or beat marshals would reach the spot, the violators would simply flee.

Meanwhile, Delhi police arrested 40 people, including four shopkeepers, in East Delhi for disobeying the Supreme Court order.

In wake of the pollution caused by the firecrackers, the air quality in Mumbai worsened and entered the poor category on Wednesday evening.

According to System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) yesterday evening was 221.

Increasing toxicity in the air across India had promoted the top court to come up with immediate measures to curb the menace. On October 31, the division bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, fixed the time hours from 8 pm and 10 pm on Diwali for burning crackers and also issued guidelines on the majority of the aspect of the festival.

From partially banning fireworks to set the time limit on the bursting of crackers, the court had issued guidelines on almost every aspect of the festival. The decision from the court came on a clutch of petitions on the behalf of three minors seeking a ban on the sale of firecrackers and manufacturing in an attempt to protect their health.