This Diwali, Mumbai may not get Dyno Bomb, 10,000 Lar firecrackers

Tests clearly showed that firecrackers sold in the market this year were far noiser than those sold since 2015

Diwali firecrackers this year appear to be noisier and smokier, says the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB)  after tests conducted on Wednesday.

The test was jointly conducted the MPCB officials and members of non-governmental organisation (NGO) Awaaz Foundation. (Representational photo)

The board has also recommended that two varieties of firecrackers — the 10,000 wallah and another one — be banned as they are too noisy. The recommendation has been sent to the controller of explosives, Nagpur.

The tests clearly showed that firecrackers sold in the market this year were far noiser than those sold since 2015. Also, the smoke emitted by various firecrackers was also higher than before.

“The testing was conducted in a professional manner and it is heartening to see that MPCB will recommend banning firecrackers to the Controller of Explosives. However, the noise exposure continues to be very high and the central government needs to realise how harmful it is for humans. The safe limit of 125 dB needs to be brought down to ensure more peaceful celebrations,” said Suraiya Artes, volunteer, AwaazFoundation.

The test was jointly conducted the MPCB officials and members of non-governmental organisation (NGO) Awaaz Foundation.

The session went on for more than two hours at a ground in Rashtriya Chemical Fertiliser (RCF) colony, Chembur , during which 23 varieties were tested.

“This year, we observed that single crackers and 10,000 series were much louder. Additionally, there is tremendous amount of chemicals being released from a few crackers and directions have been issued to the department to analyse them,” said VM Motghare, joint director, MPCB.

He added that MPCB will form squads to check whether the banned crackers are being used or not.

“These squads will be deployed across all 27 municipal corporations to track the use of these crackers and citizens will be penalised for bursting them,” he said.

Expert opinion

Scientists from the pollution control board also tested the air quality and found that pollution levels from Man Pasand (shell) from Anil Fireworks recorded 4,000 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) on the spot from particulate matter (PM10) – small pollutant particles that can easily enter the respiratory system. The safe limit for PM10 over a span of 8 hours is 100µg/m3. Another cracker called Rainbow Fog from Standard Fireworks had coloured smoke and will be tested for chemical analysis.

“We have witnessed a significant rise in noiseless fancy firecrackers that emanate large amount of smoke, which is dangerous for children and senior citizens. While there are designated places internationally where crackers are burst, in India there is no such place. We request citizens not to purchase these coloured smoke crackers,” said SC Kollur, chief scientist, MPCB.