Sixty-four people have been booked by the police in the twin city for violating the stipulated time limit imposed by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) on bursting firecrackers during Diwali festivities this year. In view of the ongoing pandemic, the civic administration had issued a notification that allowed fireworks only between 8 pm to 10 pm to celebrate Diwali and Gurupurab. However, the first-of-its-kind time limit went up in smoke after people in many areas continued to burst firecrackers much after the stipulated deadline on Saturday night.
While the civic administration, which allowed firecracker stalls ,remained content by making a cosmetic appeal of observing crackerless celebrations, officials from various zones of the Mira Bhayandar- Vasai Virar Police (MBVV) Commissionerate swung into action and booked 64 people under sections 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for defying orders for containing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. This apart from slapping cases under section 11 of Maharashtra COVID-19 Regulations and relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, against the offenders.
46 cases were registered against 64 offenders in the six police stations. Bhayandar police station topped the list by registering 20 cases, followed by nine and seven cases registered by the Navghar and Naya Nagar police stations, respectively. While 15 people were booked in the Mira-Road-Kashimira belt, the Uttan police registered one offence. To avoid crowding during Diwali and Chhath Puja, the police department has already issued prohibitory orders till November 20. While rising air pollution may also increase the severity of coronavirus cases, people are likely to be more vulnerable to the infection if the air they breathe is polluted. However, action eluded several firecracker shops that had popped up amidst every nook and cranny of densely populated areas in the twin city in brazen violation of the Indian Explosive Act.
