Diwali day firecracker cases crosses 2,000 mark in TN

As many as 2,190 cases were filed by police across Tamil Nadu for bursting firecrackers during 'Deepavali' outside the two-hour time slot fixed by the state government as per the Supreme Court order.

However, no arrests were made since the offence was bailable in nature, a police official said.

The Chennai Corporation Thursday said it removed 95.06 tonnes of cracker waste deploying 19,000 civic personnel.

Deepavali was celebrated in the state on Tuesday and the state government had fixed the time for bursting crackers between 6 AM to 7 AM and 7 PM and 8 PM.

Among the state's 32 districts, Chennai topped the list in violation of the time limit for bursting crackers with 359 cases followed by Coimbatore 184, Villupuram 160 and Virudhunagar 134. Theni recorded the lowest of five cases.

Since the offences were bailable under sections 188 (disobedience to order), 268 (public nuisance) 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire) and 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance) of the IPC, no arrests were made, the official told PTI.

Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan said 95.06 tonnes of cracker waste was collected from 15 zones of the city out of which 58.97 tonnes had been deposited with a hazardous waste facility near here.

As many as 19,000 personnel, including contract workers, were deployed to clear the rubbish, he said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the police had said that the firecracker cases in Tamil could be "2000 plus," since information was being received from several districts.

The police crackdown, however, has drawn flak from opposition parties, which termed the action "ridiculous" and demanded withdrawal of all cases.

The state pollution control board has said air pollution levels dipped across the state on deepavali day.

Citing data being collated from several parts of the state, an official had Wednesday told PTI that there was a definitive drop in air and noise pollution levels on the day (when compared to previous years) and surveys showed that the parameters conformed to set standards in most regions.

In Chennai, the ambient air quality survey showed that pollution this year was much lesser and even almost conformed to the prescribed limits of 100/micrograms as regards PM-10 (Particulate Matter).