Extensive violations of court mandates that allow firecrackers to be used for only two hours on Diwali night were reported across the city on Sunday, notwithstanding a complete ban on the ignition of any firecrackers.

Residents from Ballygunge, Salt Lake, New Town, Jadavpur, New Alipore and Behala complained of relentless bursting of firecrackers.

The intensity increased as the evening progressed.

According to a Calcutta High Court order, no firecrackers or fireworks were allowed except within a two-hour window on Monday, Diwali.

“In the state of West Bengal, only green crackers can be sold and bursting of such crackers shall be allowed for (i) two hours during Deepavali festival from 8pm to 10pm,” a high court bench had stated in its order in 2023.

Kolkata Police reiterated this in a notification issued on Friday, signed by police commissioner Manoj Verma. It stated: “Authorised green firecrackers can be displayed/discharged during the ensuing Kali Puja and Deepawali festivals on 20.10.2025 from 8pm till 10pm only.”

The state pollution control board (PCB) received 10 complaints about illegal bursting of firecrackers till 10pm on Sunday. The PCB’s special control room, opened for Diwali to receive complaints, was functional only between 5pm and 10pm. However, many residents said they heard the sound of firecrackers going off till 2am.

“Two complaints came from Bangur under Lake Town police station. The other complaints came from Beleghata, Salt Lake and Howrah city, among others,” said a PCB official.

An IT sector employee who lives near South City Mall found a group in Tollygunge obstructing the road and bursting firecrackers on Sunday night.

“A group of men near the Tollygunge Karunamoyee bridge were bursting firecrackers on the main road. I got off the car and requested them to stay off the road as the splinters could have dropped on cars and caused a major accident,” said the man, who was headed to a friend’s place in Behala Sakher Bazar around 8.30pm with his wife.

On reaching Sakher Bazar, he was again greeted with the sound of firecrackers going off every now and then.

A Behala resident who visited a friend’s house in New Alipore said he could hear sounds of firecrackers from the neighbourhood even
after midnight. “Besides, fireworks were being released into the sky from multiple apartment buildings in the neighbourhood,” he said. The frequency of the sound, he added, increased from 10pm and continued well past midnight.

Air quality also dropped to “moderate” on Monday morning in two of the seven automatic monitoring stations.

At 7am on Monday, air quality at Victoria and Jadavpur was “moderate,” while it was “satisfactory” at Bidhannagar, Ballygunge, Fort William, Rabindra Bharati and Rabindra Sarobar.

According to the National Air Quality Index, “satisfactory” air quality can cause “minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people,” while “moderate” quality can lead to “breathing discomfort to people with lung, asthma and heart diseases”.

Arup Halder, a pulmonologist with the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI), said local pollution caused by relentless bursting of firecrackers in a small pocket — which may not be reflected in the readings of the monitoring stations — can still impact people living in the neighbourhood.

“If firecrackers are being burst around someone’s house, it will increase the pollutant load in that pocket and impact those living there. Acute exposure can also lead to irritation in the nose and throat, a transient rise in blood pressure and viral pneumonia,” said Halder.