Diwali high-decibel sermon to high-rises - Cops ask residents not to take ban lightly

Calcutta police are on a sermon spree before cracking the whip on high-rises that think the campaign against high-decibel crackers is all sound and fury signifying nothing.

On Tuesday, representatives of 44 Alipore apartment blocks received a lesson in decibel levels from the deputy commissioner (south), D.P. Singh, at a community hall on Ashoka Road.

“Although the permissible sound limit for firecrackers is 90 decibels, it is advised that people should not burst crackers at all. It’s a festival of lights, not sound,” Singh told the assembly of Alipore residents. “The police will take strict action against anyone found flouting the norms,” he added.

Last week, 61 representatives of high-rises under the jurisdiction of Shakespeare Sarani police station received a sound sermon. So did 32 from Ballygunge.

The message was the same for high-rises from Tallah to Tollygunge, Park Street to Patuli. “The maximum complaints about noisy firecrackers are against high-rises. So we thought about focusing on creating awareness among residents of apartment buildings about the rules,” said a senior officer in Lalbazar.

Almost every person arrested for violating the Diwali decibel bar last year was a resident of a high-rise. Residents of south Calcutta buildings were the biggest offenders, the list of callous acts including throwing the remains of still-burning crackers from rooftops without looking where they have landed.

“We will act on every complaint this year. Personnel will be posted on the roofs of high-rises on October 26 and 27 to keep an eye on the revelry,” the officer said.

The police carry out an awareness drive in high-rises before every Diwali. But sources said this year they were making an extra effort to ensure better compliance.

“We will also make a greater effort to book offenders this Diwali,” said a south Calcutta-based police officer.

Many high-rise representatives said this was the “first time” they had been briefed by the police about the rules in a systematic manner.

“We have been clearly informed about the dos and don’ts. We are really grateful for it and would be more than happy to abide by the norms,” said M.K. Jalan, the president of the Alipore Citizens' Forum, an association of residents that participated in Tuesday’s meeting.

Cops are trying to create awareness also by distributing leaflets emphasising the importance of a “noise-free” Diwali. A standing instruction to all residents of high-rises is to keep the keys to the terrace either with the cop posted in an apartment building or with the private guard.

“If there’s a fire in a building, people can rush to the terrace. So the keys should be available,” a cop said.

Officers said steps were being taken to spread the word in the new areas under Lalbazar’s jurisdiction. “There is apparently no restriction on the use of banned crackers in the areas under Bengal police. So people under the 17 police stations that have recently become a part of Calcutta police are new to these restrictions. We are doing our best to sensitise these areas,” said a cop.

Areas like SN Roy Road and Biren Roy Road in Behala, Banamali Naskar Road, Thakurpukur, James Long Sarani, Kasba, Tollygunge, NS Road, Haridevpur and Parnasree are under the scanner.

“All these areas were outside the purview of Calcutta police last year. This year, we will curb noise pollution in these places,” promised Subrata Mitra, deputy commissioner (southwest division).

On Monday and Tuesday, cops seized over 250kg of banned firecrackers and arrested at least six persons from different parts of the city.

The list of firecrackers that have been approved jointly by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, the police and the fire department will be available at all 65 police stations in a couple of days, sources said.

Of the 39 varieties of firecrackers that were unveiled at Baazi Bazaar this year, the cops have permitted the sale of 21.