A group of environmentalists gathered today, demanding spot fines for people violating the Supreme Court order on use of firecrackers causing pollution. The members of the civil society also demanded immediate seizure of DJ sets used by some of the Puja organisers during immersions. “We have written to the director general of police requesting him to impose penalty on the people violating the court order on the spot, the manner in which immediate fines are taken in case of traffic violations,” said one of the environmentalists.

The group of environmentalists have also decided to approach the apex court in case of insufficient action by the local police. “The police will have to take proper action on complaints. In case a negligence or insufficient action by the ‘station officer’ or office -in-charge of the concerned police station is observed, we will approach the apex court on grounds of contempt of court,” said environment crusader, Mr Naba Dutta. Based on the number of complaints received at the control rooms of one of the NGOs, between the years 2016 to 2018, it has been observed that areas under 22 police stations, particularly in South Bengal, are more vulnerable, according to the members of the civil society.

While in the fringe areas of Kolkata Police, West Bengal Police, multistoreyed housing complexes along with a few slums, are also pockets of more number of violations. In Kolkata, areas under the police stations of Kasba, Behala, Ballygunge Circular Road, Salt Lake, Maniktala, Bhawanipore, Dum Dum and Parnashree are some of the places from where more complaints have been received in the past few years. Notably, the green organisation has opened its control rooms for receiving complaints against noise and air pollution during Kali Puja and Diwali.

The NGO dedicated to the environment has expanded its control rooms at Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and North Dinajpur, which will keep a vigil on 27 and 28 October, the two days of the festival. The helpline numbers for Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas are – 9831318265/9432209770, for Howrah central and rural the numbers are-8420494980, 9064570985respectively.

For the district of Hooghly the numbers are 9883325009/8001558644, while for Nadia people can contact 9593584149/ 9732680262.