Defying a ban from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the city people celebrated New Year鈥檚 Eve with fireworks, crackers and sky lanterns from Tuesday evening to the small hours on Wednesday as elsewhere across the country.
Five people, including three children, sustained burn injuries during New Year celebrations in separate incidents in different parts of the capital.
The victims were identified as Farhan, 8, Tassin, 3, Sifan Malik, 12, Santa, 45, and Sumat, 20.
Among them, Farhan was admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery with 15 per cent burn injuries while the others received first aid at the hospital, said Shaon Bin Rahman, resident medical officer at the institute.
Two fire incidents connected with the New Year celebrations were reported in Mirpur-11 and Dhanmondi areas.
With enthusiasm of welcoming the New Year, Dhaka city dwellers in general seemed to remain unconcerned about the environmental and health hazards of fireworks and lanterns, although a good number of them complained about the sound pollution and terrifying experiences.
The national emergency helpline 999 received a whopping 1,185 calls from across Bangladesh reporting noise pollution from loud music, fireworks and other sources during New Year celebration hours starting from Tuesday night to continue till early Wednesday, said a press release issued by the national emergency helpline authority on Wednesday.
Of those calls, 387 of these complaints came from residents in the Dhaka metropolitan area alone, said police inspector Anwar Sattar, media and public relations officer of the helpline.
Of them, 798 calls came from other parts of the country, he said.
鈥業n each case, the 999 service informed the relevant police stations and efforts were made to address the issue. In response to the complaints, the police went to the reported locations, taking action to halt the music blaring from loudspeakers,鈥� the press release mentioned.
A sky lantern, meanwhile, caught fire in front of the Swapna Shopping Mall near LabAid Hospital in Dhaka鈥檚 Dhanmondi.
No casualties or damage was reported from the fire as local residents promptly extinguished the flames.
Being informed, however, the Mohammadpur Fire Station dispatched a firefighting team which did not need to intervene as the fire was already put out, the release added.
鈥楶olice teams conducted operations in 150 areas in the city from Tuesday evening and recovered a huge number of fireworks and crackers,鈥� said Md Talebur Rahman, DMP spokesperson and deputy commissioner.
The police remained vigilant and no untoward incidents occurred, he added.
