Fire(works) in the Loins

When South 24 Parganas’ district magistrate Khalil Ahmad gave local lads fireworks to burst when they saw people defecating in the open.

Most of the 1.5 million pilgrims at the Ganga Sagar Mela in Sunderbans’ Sagar island defecate in the open, creating a health hazard and an overpowering stench. Instead of building more toilets, South 24 Parganas district magistrate Khalil Ahmad gave local lads fireworks to burst when they saw people defecating in the open. But human rights activists, the state pollution control board and even politicians weren’t amused. A red-faced Ahmad called off the exercise and now claims he had nothing to do with it.