More than 200 people, including children, suffered firecracker-related eye injuries in Bengaluru during the five-day Diwali period, with hospitals reporting cases ranging from eyelid burns and corneal abrasions to internal bleeding and retinal damage.
Narayan Nethralaya’s Rajajinagar facility treated 64 patients, including 33 children and 31 adults, according to the report. Three patients required surgery, while the remaining patients recovered with routine treatment. The hospital said many injuries were linked to Lakshmi crackers, bijili crackers, atom bombs and flower pots.
The hospital’s case details also showed that people watching firecrackers were injured more often than those lighting them. Twenty-three patients were hurt while setting off crackers, while 41 suffered injuries while watching explosions, the report said.
Dr Yathish S., head of the cornea department at Narayan Nethralaya, said doctors had recorded eyelid burns, scratches inside the eye, corneal abrasions, bleeding within the eye, corneal ruptures and retinal injuries. He said the injuries occurred when sparks directly struck the eyes.
Minto Eye Hospital reported 52 firecracker-related cases, involving 27 adults and 25 children. Twenty-three people were injured while lighting crackers and 29 while watching them. Doctors classified 33 cases as serious. Of the total, 41 patients received outpatient treatment and 11 were admitted, according to information provided by the hospital.
Narayan Nethralaya’s branches on Bannerghatta Road, in Bommasandra and at Whitefield treated 56 people. Children accounted for 30 of those cases, including 10 children below the age of 10. Forty-four patients were injured while setting off firecrackers, while 12 were hurt while watching them, the report said.
Other hospitals also reported patients with firecracker injuries. Shankar Eye Hospital treated 28 people, Prabha Eye Hospital treated 15, Bengaluru Nethralaya treated six and Modi Eye Hospital treated five. Nethradhama Hospital reported 12 cases, including a five-year-old girl.
One of the serious cases involved a nine-year-old boy who was standing in a park when a firecracker exploded nearby, injuring his right eye. He was taken to Nethradhama’s Indiranagar branch within 15 minutes of the incident. The hospital said the boy’s vision had been severely affected by bleeding inside the eye, but immediate treatment helped prevent the risk of permanent vision loss.
Dr Raksha Jagadishprasad Vaishnav, an eye cataract surgeon at Nethradhama, said treatment was started immediately to control the bleeding and reduce inflammation. She said a delay in treatment could have resulted in permanent loss of vision.
The cases reported by Bengaluru’s eye hospitals include both people directly handling firecrackers and bystanders exposed to explosions nearby. The hospital figures also show that children formed a substantial share of patients, while several cases required admission, surgery or urgent treatment to protect vision.
