The city celebrated a quieter Chhath Puja this year compared with Diwali.
The sound from firecrackers and loudspeakers was less and the number of prosecutions far lesser.
Calcutta police said they arrested 26 people for bursting illegal firecrackers on Sunday and Monday on the occasion of Chhath Puja and seized 13kg of banned fireworks.
On Diwali night, 361 Calcuttans were arrested for bursting illegal crackers and 653kg of banned crackers was seized.
Last year, 18 persons had been arrested for bursting illegal firecrackers and 26.7 kg of banned crackers was seized.
“Last year, the seizure of illegal crackers was almost double than this year. The number of people arrested for disorderly conduct (other than flouting cracker rule) was 334 last year, compared with 24 this year. Most of the people who have been arrested for disorderly conduct this Chhath are booked for playing loudspeakers in violation of rules and drunken brawl. This year such incidents were very few,” said an officer in the Calcutta police headquarters.
According to court guidelines, bursting of only green crackers was allowed on Chhath Puja. And only a two-hour window — from 6am to 8am on Monday — was allowed for lighting crackers.
The police said most of devotees abided by the noise rules. “Those who did not were arrested,” said an assistant commissioner in the city police.
A resident of Kankurgachhi said she had to report “continuous blaring of loudspeakers” to the police last year. This year, she said, was quieter.
A resident of a gated community in Anandapur, along EM Bypass, echoed the statement of the woman from Kankurgachhi.
“There are several water bodies in our neighbourhood and many people come to offer their prayers. But surprisingly there was no noise this year,” said the Anandapur resident.
However, a few people told Metro that they heard firecrackers going off near a hospital in their neighbourhood.
Calcutta has witnessed several Chhath Puja-related violations in the past, including performing rituals at Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar. The National Green Tribunal has banned all religious rituals on the premises of the two lakes to protect the environment.
No ritual was performed this year at the lakes.
However, there were reports of violations related to disposal of garbage along the ghats and in the Maidan area.
This newspaper visited two Hooghly ghats — Doi Ghat and Bajekadamtala Ghat — and the Maidan area and found heaps of garbage dumped in the open. The police said the garbage was thrown by people who came to offer puja early in the morning.
A senior official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation said the cleaning of the ghats had begun.
“Devotees offered puja on Monday morning. Everything should be clear by Tuesday. The cleaning process has started,” the official said.
A senior IPS officer at Lalbazar said a special force had been deployed at the ghats and other locations where rituals were performed.
After Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar became out of bounds for religious rituals, many started making temporary water tubs in their neighbourhoods to offer puja.
“The police had been deployed at those locations, too, to ensure compliance of firecracker and loudspeaker rules,” an officer said.
