Kolkata recorded 434 police complaints and 84 complaints to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board during Kali Puja-Diwali celebrations, as illegal firecrackers and loudspeakers pushed noise levels far above permitted limits across residential areas and designated silence zones.
Police rounded up 371 people for bursting illegal firecrackers, with 205 placed under arrest. Another 387 people were arrested for disorderly conduct, according to figures reported by the Times of India. The number of arrests for illegal crackers was the highest since 2019. Last year, 183 people were booked for similar violations.
The police control room also received 11 complaints about loudspeakers. The pollution board had received 84 noise-related complaints by 1 am, highlighting the scale of disturbance reported by residents during the festivities.
Automated noise-monitoring stations recorded levels significantly above the applicable night-time and silence-zone limits. Tangra recorded 86.2 decibels at 10 pm, compared with the area’s permitted night-time limit of 45 decibels. The Calcutta University campus in Ballygunge, classified as a silence zone, recorded 81.1 decibels against a permitted limit of 40 decibels. The same location remained at 71.5 decibels at 3 am.
Jadavpur University, another silence zone, recorded 80.3 decibels at 10 pm. On the following evening, Jadavpur recorded 75.6 decibels at 9 pm. The worst-affected areas identified in the report included Ballygunge, Jadavpur, Dhakuria, Taltala, Posta and New Alipore. Noise levels in these locations began rising after 8 pm and remained a concern on the second evening.
A former pollution-control-board scientist quoted in the report said an ambient reading of 80 decibels represents 10,000 times the sound intensity of the 40-decibel silence-zone standard. ENT specialist Dulal Bose said sudden firecracker blasts could cause acute acoustic stress, aggravate existing health conditions and frighten pets and wildlife.
Residents reported difficulties in protecting vulnerable family members from the noise. Aruna Saha, a Behala resident, said her elderly father, who has a heart ailment, had a difficult night. She said requests to young people to stop bursting crackers after midnight were ignored.
Environmental watchdog Sabuj Mancha reported violations in both north and south Kolkata. Naba Dutta of the organisation said police responded when complaints were made but that conditions on the ground did not change sufficiently.
The enforcement figures also raised questions about the timing and effectiveness of preventive action. Police seized 238.6 kg of banned crackers, sharply lower than the 853 kg seized the previous year, even as arrests for cracker violations increased. Police sources cited in the report expressed concern that unused illegal crackers could be used during Chhath and Jagaddhatri Puja.
For upcoming immersion-related operations, five pollution-control-board teams and 151 police teams are expected to patrol the streets. Authorities have identified 22 police-station areas as extremely problematic and another 12 as moderately problematic. These deployments are the next stated enforcement step as Kolkata continues to manage noise violations during the festival season.
