PUDUCHERRY: Calling upon the general public to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court, on the use of crackers, the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee (PPCC), on Monday, appealed for a noiseless and smokeless Deepavali celebration.
The panel cautioned the public against bursting crackers between 10 pm and 6 am on the day of Deepavali.
The panel, pointing to the SC directions, said the manufacture, sale or use of fire crackers generating noise levels exceeding 125 decibel (db) at 4 meters distance and joined crackers exceeding 125 db from the point of bursting shall be strictly prohibited.
The committee, which urged the public not to pollute with smoke and noise while celebrating the festival of lights, also explained the harmful effects of crackers on humans.
No crackers should be fired near hospitals, religious places, educational institutions, court buildings and notified silence zones, it said.
As per the SC directions, “Fire crackers shall not be used at any time in the silence zone namely in an area comprising not less than 100 meters around hospitals, religious places, educational institutions and Court buildings”
The ill-effects of noise-producing crackers may cause insomnia, escalation of heart disease in patients, mental disorientation, hypertension and visual impairment.
The main victims would be aged- people, pregnant women, heart patients, asthma patients and infants, according to the member secretary of the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee.