This Deepavali, pipe down as you light up the sky

Civic officials and police will be cracking down on people using high-decibel fire crackers this Deepavali

Noisy AFFAIR:Despite being banned by multiple departments and a court order, firecrackers emitting noise beyond 125 decibels continue to be sold in the city. Last year, the noise and air pollution levels spiked by 30 per cent during the festive season. Loud firecrackers are known to be harmful to people as well as pets.— Photos: Sudhakara Jain, K. MURALI KUMAR

Bengaluru: With the aim of doing away with noise from the festival of lights, civic officials and the police will be cracking down on people using high-decibel fire crackers this Deepavali.

Despite being banned by multiple departments and a court order, firecrackers emitting noise beyond 125 decibels continue to make their way into assorted boxes of fireworks and into the streets of Bengaluru. The ‘bombs’ belong to this category. But this time, officials have promised stricter enforcement.

Last year, the noise as well as air pollution levels had spiked by 30 per cent during the festive season. This year, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) aims to reduce the spike to at least 20 per cent. One of the key concerns is the rise in particulate matter due to the use of fireworks.

KSPCB has sent a circular to all agencies involved about the implementation of the various provisions and legislation governing the use and sale of firecrackers (

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KSPCB Chairman Lakshman said, “We have held many awareness programmes in schools and colleges persuading children to move away from firecrackers completely. We have also asked the police and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to strictly enforce the ban on high-decibel firecrackers.”

Crackdown on manufacturers next year

In an effort at nipping the problem in the bud, the KSPCB will start cracking down on manufacturers of the banned high-decibel variants of firecrackers. "We will also crack down on products coming into Karnataka from other States," said KSPCB Chairman Lakshman.

Community celebrations

For the first time, citizens’ associations, along with the BBMP, have introduced the concept of community celebrations by allotting designated spaces for bursting firecrackers. This is an attempt to isolate the damage to the environment and cause less stress to people and pets.

N.S. Ramakanth, member of SWM Expert Committee, said people in Yelahanka, Dasarahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Kormangala and HSR Layout are already on board.

“We want everybody to use firecrackers that emit as little smoke and noise as possible, if at all people should use them. We will designate spots and a timeframe for people to burst firerackers. We are attempting this for the first time,” said Mr. Ramakanth.

What will be done this time

The police will ensure

Restrict bursting of firecrackers to October 29-31

No firecrackers allowed after 10 p.m.

Minimum sales points

Collect samples of sound emitting firecrackers, examine and record findings (chemicals, chemical content, etc)

The Education Department

Encourage community celebrations

Restrict bursting of firecrackers to designated spots

No bursting firecrackers from 10 p.m. - 6 a.m.

Educating children about ill-effects of firecrackers

What the rules say

Prohibits manufacture, sale or use of fire crackers generating noise level exceeding 125 dB(AI) or 145 dB(C)pk at 4 metres from point of bursting

For individual fire cracker constituting a series (joined firecrackers), the above mentioned limit be reduced by 5 log 10 (N) dB, where N = number of crackers joined together