Tamil Nadu: Diwali firecracker ban ignored; 147 cases registered in Madurai

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], November 13 (ANI): Defying the Supreme Court's time restrictions on firecracker use, Madurai city witnessed widespread violations during Diwali (Sunday).
The city police commissioner revealed that 147 cases have been registered for bursting firecrackers beyond the stipulated time limit.
"147 cases have been registered related to the bursting of firecrackers beyond the specified time limit as permitted by the state government on Diwali in the district," the Madurai city police commissioner said.
According to the order of the Supreme Court, on the pleas of the Government of Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of Diwali, people were allowed to use firecrackers for 2 hours only, from 6 am to 7 am and from 7 pm to 8 pm.
Meanwhile, the ban on firecrackers beyond the time specified by the Supreme Court was violated in several areas of Chennai as people rejoiced in the celebrations on Diwali night, an official release said on Monday.
A total of 581 cases have been registered so far in Chennai, 554 cases related to the bursting of firecrackers beyond the time specified by the Supreme Court, 8 cases related to running a firecracker shop in violation of Tamil Nadu Government rules and 19 cases regarding the bursting of firecrackers with excessive noise--a total of 581 cases--have been registered, according to the release.
Post-Diwali, roads in Tamil Nadu's capital city, Chennai, were left littered with fireworks waste and the air quality dipped to poor early Monday morning. The air quality in various areas of Chennai was also recorded as poor this morning.
In the last five years, the Tamil Nadu government has specified the timings for celebrating with firecrackers.
In the aftermath of the Diwali celebrations, roads in Tamil Nadu's capital city, Chennai, were left littered with fireworks waste and the air quality dipped to poor early Monday morning.
A special drive was conducted by the Chennai Corporation in order to remove the firecracker waste.
A total of 19,063 workers were deployed in the implementation of the "cleanliness drive".
Meanwhile, the air quality in Chennai's Arumbakkam was recorded at 260 early this morning. It was recorded at 227 at Royapuram, it was 316 at Manali and 301 in the Velachery area all in poor and very poor categories. (ANI)