Bursting of firecrackers: New Town residents urge NKDA to check pollution

Kolkata: At a time when the state government is trying to reduce air pollution by spraying water on the road and is spreading awareness among citizens, a section of people in New Town have taken to bursting crackers during marriage ceremonies.

According to the residents of New Town, during the season of marriage, mostly during the months of November, December and January, people organising the ceremonies in the banquet halls and community centres often explode crackers, much to the irritation of other neighbours.

Not only the sound but also the air pollution increases due to such an act. “Use of firecrackers in New Town is like deliberately increasing the pollution. This too at a time when several construction works are afoot across New Town.

This is augmenting the pollution to a danger level with dust particles floating in the air. Also, the sound travels more in New Town due to vacant areas,” said P Majumdar, a resident of AB Block. Meanwhile, the New Town Citizens Welfare Fraternity (NTCWF) also submitted a deputation earlier to the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) about the pollution related issues. “We had given a letter to the NKDA demanding that steps be taken to reduce pollution and requested planting of more trees.

We also received a letter from the authority on the matter. Soon, we are going to meet with the authorities on the issue again,” said Samir Gupta, secretary of NTCWF. Police have claimed they are taking actions on receiving complaints.