Mumbai Police have taken action against 806 individuals for flouting the Bombay High Court’s directive to burst firecrackers only between 8 pm and 10 pm. The violations occurred over three days, from November 10, when the revised timings were issued, to November 12, during which 784 cases were registered. The police control room received over 5,000 calls reporting violations, prompting authorities to intensify patrolling and deploy additional manpower.
The High Court, on November 10, had imposed restrictions on the time frame for bursting crackers, considering the city’s escalating air pollution. Acting on the HC order, the police registered 784 cases by Sunday night, taking penal action against 734 people, while initiating other relevant measures against 72 individuals.
Senior officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had earlier stated that squads monitoring construction and debris dumping would extend their oversight to the bursting of crackers at the ward level. However, on Monday, civic officials clarified that despite the HC order on the duration for bursting crackers, there was no written rule empowering them to penalize violators. Officials stated that the civic body could only conduct sensitization drives, and before Diwali, they had engaged in multiple meetings with resident welfare associations and Advanced Locality Management (ALM) groups to emphasize compliance.
Former Bandra corporator Asif Zakaria reported widespread cracker bursting throughout the day, with residents filing complaints through the 100 helpline. However, Zakaria highlighted the limitation of civic authorities, citing insufficient empowerment and manpower for large-scale enforcement.
Ravi Raja, another former corporator, emphasized that the civic authorities should prioritize cracking down on government and private agencies involved in city infrastructure works. He suggested that merely limiting cracker bursting for a day would have minimal impact unless rules are consistently enforced on the ground.