Citizens serve legal notices to State govt. over bursting of firecrackers during Ganesha festival

A group of citizens has served legal notices to several key functionaries of the State government apart from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board over the repeated bursting of firecrackers during the recent Ganesha festival.

The citizens, including Harini Raghavan, Sudha Narayanan, Priya Chetty Rajagopal, Vinod Jacob, Anjali Gopalan, Reena Chengappa and Sonali, said in their petition that the repeated bursting of firecrackers had caused considerable distress to residents. Therefore, a legal notice is being served to the concerned authorities.

Harini Raghavan said, “As citizens, we want immediate enforcement of the applicable legal restrictions on firecrackers, unauthorised storage and sale, and the indiscriminate bursting of crackers on public roads. With Diwali approaching, we also want concerned government bodies including KSPCB to conduct surprise inspections on suspected warehouses, unauthorised storage facilities and retail outlets, seizure of prohibited stock, and take appropriate legal proceedings against violators.”

She clarified that their objective is not to oppose festivals or lawful celebrations, but to ensure that they are conducted responsibly, without compromising public health, road safety, the right to clean air or the well-being of people especially senior citizens, children and animals. They have urged Karnataka’s authorities to issue clear public advisories on permissible firecrackers and bursting timings.

Ms. Raghavan warned that if the authorities failed to respond appropriately and take effective action within 10 days of the notice being served on October 20, the citizens would approach the appropriate court seeking judicial intervention and enforcement of the applicable legal provisions.

However, R. Gokul, Member Secretary, KSPCB, said, “I haven’t come across a legal notice served on the KSPCB recently. We cannot ban certain crackers that cause a lot of sound and air pollution, which affects the health of citizens, until a proper law is implemented. As authorities, we can only request citizens to use green crackers that cause less sound and air pollution and to burst crackers during a particular time of the day."