Suvendu defends firecrackers, says those complaining can't accept awakening of Sanatanis

Kolkata: Some people are complaining about firecrackers on Deepavali because they cannot accept the awakening of the Sanatanis, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Monday, even as environmentalists raised concerns over noise and air pollution in Kolkata and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Roopa Ganguly joined many citizens in protesting against the deafening explosions. Ganguly, unable to sleep amid the incessant noise of firecrackers, sought police help in a late-night post on Facebook on Sunday. The actress-turned-politician, however, later deleted her post, which appeared at odds with the views of some of her party colleagues. Papiya Adhikari, another BJP legislator with a background in acting, defended the bursting of firecrackers, saying they were integral to Kali Puja and Deepavali celebrations. She also claimed recently that bursting firecrackers could cure illnesses. As her comment triggered a controversy, she sought to clarify her position on Monday, saying that she had merely repeated an old belief that lighting lamps and performing yajnas could dispel darkness and drive away evil. Kolkata witnessed widespread violations of firecracker restrictions during Deepavali, with high-decibel explosions continuing well beyond midnight in several neighbourhoods. Environmental activist Naba Datta, general secretary of Sabuj Mancha, monitored noise and pollution levels around hospitals. He said that the situation was particularly alarming near R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and B C Roy Children’s Hospital in the city. Diwali firecrackers can help cure several diseases, claims Bengal BJP MLA Papia Adhikari“The air pollution in Kolkata during Kali Puja is giving Delhi a run for its money,” Datta said, adding that PM 2.5 particulate pollution levels had reached 415-420 micrograms per cubic metre near B C Roy Children’s Hospital in Phoolbagan around 11 pm, far exceeding the prescribed limits. He also expressed dismay over medical students bursting crackers at the RGKMCH. This was despite Supreme Court-mandated restrictions allowing only certified green crackers to be burst for two hours, between 8 pm and 10 pm. Datta blamed the deteriorating air quality on the extensive use of illegal, non-green fireworks containing toxic chemicals such as barium, lead and arsenic, which continued to be burst well beyond the permitted hours. The apex court had banned the joined firecrackers (series crackers) and directed that individual firecrackers must comply with prescribed noise limits of 125 dB (AI) or 145 dB (C) pk, measured at four metres from the point of bursting. The AQI at Salt Lake in Kolkata surged from 117 on Sunday afternoon to 330 by 11 p.m. and 336 shortly after midnight. Kolkata’s average AQI stood at 176 by Monday morning, placing it in the moderate category. Not only Salt Lake, Jadavpur, too, recorded an AQI of 326 by 11 p.m. on Sunday, while Fort William, near Red Road, registered a PM2.5-based AQI of 268 by 1 a.m. on Monday. The reading at Rabindra Bharati University’s monitoring station touched 265 during peak night hours. “The communists are doing it,” Adhikari, who took over as the chief minister after the BJP came to power in the state earlier this year, said on Monday, when he was asked about the allegations of violations of restrictions on bursting of firecrackers during Kali Puja and Deepavali. “People will celebrate a little during Deepavali and burst green crackers. What is the problem with that? The real problem for some people is that they cannot accept the awakening of the Sanatanis,” Adhikari said. “Those complaining had turned Hindu festivals into cultural programmes, distancing them from religious scriptures. They do not wear tilak and do not tie the sacred Bipad Tarini (goddess who wards off evils) thread around their wrists. Neither do they wear tulsi beads around their necks.” Adhikari claimed that firecracker bursting remained under control on Sunday night and that police took action against violations. He said that the state administration had taken all necessary steps to regulate noise pollution in compliance with the Supreme Court directives.   However, Agnimitra Paul, the state’s minister for urban development and municipal affairs, had taken to the streets of Kolkata late on Sunday night after receiving complaints about the deafening noise of firecracker explosions from several neighbourhoods. “It is difficult to stay indoors,” Paul said, as she toured Rashbehari, Garia and Kasba in south Kolkata. She also sought the intervention of the Kolkata Police Commissioner to enforce restrictions on the use of firecrackers. The chief minister’s remarks drew a sharp response from the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The party’s central committee member, Sujan Chakraborty, questioned the invocation of Sanatani traditions to defend the bursting of high-decibel firecrackers. “I do not know which Sanatani tradition sanctions such rampant noise and air pollution,” he said, accusing Adhikari of deriving pleasure from the deafening explosions. Taking exception to Adhikari’s references to Tilak, the Bipad Tarini thread and Tulsi beads, Chakraborty questioned whether it was the chief minister’s job to monitor what people wore or which religious symbols they displayed. “There is a reflection of a medieval mindset somewhere,” he said. Kunal Ghosh, a legislator and the general secretary of the Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress, accused the police of failing to enforce restrictions on firecrackers, alleging that they were preoccupied with arresting supporters of the opposition party. He described the situation on Sunday night as the worst in terms of noise pollution and the unchecked use of firecrackers, questioning why the police had failed to act despite widespread violations.

Source: Deccan Herald