Foreword
The Deepawali is a festival of lights. However, over the years, it has also become a festival of noise and air pollution. Indiscriminate use of crackers often results in serious accidents and lethal injuries. Alongside, deafening noise produced by crackers blatantly exceed the tolerable limits thus posing threats of hearing loss apart from public nuisance.

For ascertaining the nature and extent of noise and air pollution created by crackers during Deepawali festival, a survey was carried out by CPCB. The findingcof the survey 1997-1998 and recommendations thereon are contained in this report.
We hope, the report will be useful to all concerned including the civic authorities and citizens at large.

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