KARACHI, Oct 12: The city reverberated with the sound of firecrackers throughout the Saturday-Sunday night as people, especially the youth, observed Shab-i-Barat.
As in practice over the past many years, the city authorities had imposed a ban on the manufacturing, sale, purchase and exploding of firecrackers under section 144 CrPC in the metropolis.
Police were directed to maintain a strict check in this regard by conducting raids on shops/warehouses in order to ensure compliance of the ban. They were ordered to seize any stock of firecrackers and take action against those involved in the trade.
However, the police appeared to be helpless in implementing the ban and preventing people from trading in firecrackers and controlling those who resorted to cause the reverberation.
An open sale and purchase of crackers was witnessed in parts of the city, but the police took cosmetic measures in some of the areas where people complained of intolerable noise by miscreants.
The authorities’ warning about stern action failed to impress manufacturers or sellers of firecrackers, rather, it seemed that they had been given a free hand to destroy peace and perturb citizens by setting off a variety of crackers.
As usual, trading in firecrackers began as soon as Shaban moon was sighted. The sale picked up gradually and reached its climax on Saturday when children, especially young boys, thronged shops and vending stalls offering all sorts of fireworks.
No street, road or locality was spared by the revellers who went on a night-long spree.
Apart from those offering Nawafil at home and mosques, in line with the spirit of Shab-i-Barat, the most perturbed were those with heart ailments as well as infants. Doctors often warn that cracker explosions may create hearing complications or certain other impairments in infants.
“A deafening bang right at my doorstep shook up all those at home and my infant baby started crying, said an angry resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar who was devastated by the series of loud explosions in his locality on that night.
Another citizen, Tauqeer Shah, a resident of Nazimabad said: “My mother is a patient of hypertension and heart ailment. The bangs of firecrackers is disastrous for her. When I came out of my house to request them not to resort to set off crackers, they refused to heed. Ultimately, I had to seek police help.”
“It is the night of blessings and we should pray to Allah to forgive us for our sins and shower blessings on Ummah. The way Shab-i-Barat is observed with firecrackers and fireworks being the main feature only to disturb those busy in Ibadat at mosques and homes, is a pitiful act,” said a pious person at a mosque in Bahadurabad.
Another distressed resident in block-14, Federal B Area, said that crackers had been exploded in his area unabatedly since the adventof Shaban. He said that the unbearable noise had made their life miserable but the government had been doing nothing to curb the menace by checking the manufacturing and sale of firecrackers.
A resident of North Karachi told Dawn that she failed to offer prayers amid the horrific sound of crackers. She complained that she dialled ‘15’ to seek police help but the police regretted by saying: “we cannot help you.”
She pointed out that though the ban on firecrackers was there, it could not be implemented effectively by police.
Another woman, a resident of Malir, said that the terrific sound of crackers had adversely affected her as she was a heart and hypertension patient. She also complained of non-cooperation on the part of police in this regard. Many more people complained of police failure expressing their resentment over, what they called, police role in patronising the business of firecrackers.
On their part, police said that they had come hard on cracker traders and miscreants. They pointed out that 35 people were arrested for violating the ban and 23 cases were registered against them. The police said that in Garden area, two trucks, loaded with firecrackrs, were impounded.