Mumbai police registered 82 FIRs and issued notices to 110 people for allegedly bursting firecrackers on public roads and other public places during Diwali, while firecrackers were linked to 333 of the 499 fire calls received by the Mumbai Fire Brigade between November 6 and 10.
The enforcement action covered incidents reported between November 5 and 11 and followed civic and court restrictions on the use of firecrackers, fireworks, rockets, laser lights, high-intensity lumen lights and beams on public roads, pathways and other public places. The restrictions were issued following a Bombay High Court order in September and are in force from October 6 to December 4.
Malabar Hill recorded the highest number of cases at 16, followed by Powai with 11, Gamdevi with seven, Dharavi with six, and Mahim and Shivaji Park with five each. Bandra and Kurar recorded four cases each, while Bangur Nagar, Goregaon, Pant Nagar and Vikhroli recorded three each. Dadar, Sahar and Shahu Nagar recorded two cases each. One case each was registered in Azad Maidan, Kalachowki, Mankhurd, MRA Marg, MIDC and Nehru Nagar.
Those booked or served notices included real estate developers, businesspersons, doctors, salaried employees, chemists, labourers, students, drivers and elderly people. DCP (Operations) Akbar Pathan said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Mumbai Disaster Management Authority had separately prohibited rockets and aerial firecrackers throughout Mumbai from November 9 to 25.
In one case, Azad Maidan police registered an FIR on November 9 against driver Avinash Saha, 34, who allegedly launched three rockets on Bomanji Master Lane in Kalbadevi between 1.25 am and 1.30 am. Police alleged that the rockets struck passing vehicles and a building wall.
Bandra police booked Pushkaraj Singh, 24, on November 10 after he allegedly resumed bursting firecrackers on BJ Road near Bandstand at around 11 pm on November 9 despite two warnings. Police said all four cases registered in Bandra followed alleged violations after two warnings.
Malabar Hill police registered an FIR against chemist Jitendra Ramparag Yadav, 25, on November 8 for allegedly bursting firecrackers on Ashanagar Outer Road, opposite PDP Garden, at around 8.45 pm. Powai police booked student Shreyas Ramdas Kirkar, 19, on November 9 after he was allegedly found bursting a sky-shot firework outside the MTNL Building at around 9.40 pm.
The two Dadar cases involved alleged noise and environmental pollution and public nuisance caused by unregulated music systems, amplifiers and firecrackers. Businessman Nagendra Mandre, 28, from Dharavi, was also among those booked after allegedly bursting firecrackers in Prabhadevi.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade recorded its highest number of fire calls on November 9, when 144 of 166 incidents were linked to firecrackers. Across the November 6-10 period, 333 incidents, or 67% of all fire calls, were attributed directly to firecrackers. The period also recorded two cracker-related deaths and eight injuries.
The police, BMC and disaster management authorities are continuing enforcement under the court, civic and police orders covering public spaces, aerial firecrackers, processions, loudspeakers, amplifying instruments and musical bands.
