Given the deteriorating air quality in the country, several environmental activists, civil societies, government and some enlightened citizens decided to mellow down the Diwali celebrations. This year, they decided to make it pollution-free, courtesy the ban on the sale of crackers. The Supreme Court even legalised only two types of ‘green crackers’ for Diwali. But these rules didn’t resonate with everyone. Some rebelled against them and continued with unlawful and incessant bursting of crackers.
According to News18, 65-year-old Ramkrishna Sain’s residence was bombarded with “chocolate bombs” when they objected against the burning of illegal crackers in the vicinity by alleged local goons. Sain stated that he had earlier stood up against malpractices committed by local goons in the residential area but this time the goons decided to spoil the festivities for him and his family.
Sain’s son Anindya, 31, reportedly said that the accused rained their house with “chocolate bombs” for nearly a half-hour until the cops were called.
“We were downstairs but had to lock up the ground floor and move to the top floor of the house.”
He further added that it wasn’t the first time that the local hooligans disrupted their peace.
“Local youth around the neighbourhood willfully break rules and indulge in anti-social behaviour. They park their vehicles here despite strict “no parking” rules in our alley.”
“This time, they used violence. They threw bombs at a residence. How did they even get hold of such contraband? Weren’t chocolate bombs banned?” Anindya raises a valid question. However, no one was reportedly harmed in the incident.
Reportedly, in Bengal, the chocolate bomb or ‘dodoma’ have been banned since 1997. In 2019, a total of 105 types of crackers are banned in by Kolkata Police, including chocolate bombs. In spite of the laws against them, the illegal sale of banned crackers keeps dominating the markets.
Although an investigation is underway in this incident, it does raise concern over the black market sale of banned firecrackers and the authority’s inability to successfully implement the ban.