Two types of chocolate bomb and dodoma, both banned in Bengal since 1997 because of the noise they produce, have been cleared this year, according to state PCB and police officers who are measuring the noise produced by crackers to determine their legality in the run up to Diwali.
According to the state environment department and state pollution control board norm ratified by courts, any cracker producing noise of 90 decibel or more at a distance of five metres from the point where it is burst is illegal. No variant of chocolate bomb or dodoma, which are known for the loud noise they produce, has ever made the pollution cut till this year.
"We have cleared 21 out of the 27 crackers we tested, including two types of chocolate bomb and dodoma, which is of only one type. The types of chocolate bomb and dodoma that have been cleared emit low noise," a senior police officer told Metro.
Lalbazar sources said Calcutta police would soon issue a notification listing banned crackers.
PCB officials also said that the chocolate bombs and dodoma cleared emit sound within the permissible limit.
A senior environment department official, however, raised questions about the veracity of the test findings. "The PCB has been testing all kinds of chocolate bombs and dodomas since 1997. How can they suddenly make the cut after nearly two decades?" asked the official.
He suggested that the standard operating procedure set by the central pollution control board for measuring firecracker noise had not been followed.
Environmentalists too alleged irregularity in cracker tests. "The entire state has only three cracker manufacturer units certified by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO). Did the police and PCB only check crackers from these legal units?" asked Biswajit Mukherjee, a retired chief law officer of the state PCB.
He added that since the green bench had directed the administration to shut down illegal fireworks units, testing of crackers produced in such units amounted to contempt of court.
"We only tested fireworks that were referred to us by the police and have no idea about their source," PCB chairman Kalyan Rudra told Metro.
A senior police officer said: "We asked the PCB to measure whatever was submitted to us by traders and manufacturers."
"The central PCB standard operating procedure mandates that fireworks should be tested randomly. Samples submitted by manufacturers might be manipulated," said an environment expert.
Naba Dutta, secretary of environment platform Sabuj Mancha, said all types of chocolate bombs will flood the market in the guise of those that have been cleared.
