Cracker safety, in plain words

Before the evening

• Store the boxes in a cool dry place away from the kitchen, lamps and candles, and out of reach of children.
• Choose your spot in daylight: flat open ground, nothing overhead, no vehicles, no dry leaves.
• Sort the boxes into quiet items and loud items so you are not opening boxes in the dark.
• Tell elderly neighbours and anyone with a pet or an infant when you plan to start.

While lighting

• Use a long agarbatti or a taper, never a matchstick held close, and never a lighter in your palm.
• Light the fuse at its tip and walk away. Do not lean over any item.
• Never hold anything except a sparkler, and hold that at arm's length, pointing away.
• Never put a cracker into a bottle, a pipe, a tin or your pocket.
• Keep the crowd behind the person lighting, never in a circle around the item.

If something goes wrong

• A burn goes under cool running water for at least ten minutes. No ice, no toothpaste, no oil.
• Clothing on fire: stop, drop and roll, or smother with a thick cotton cloth.
• Anything in the eye: do not rub, cover it lightly and go to a hospital at once.
• Keep your nearest hospital number saved before the evening starts.

Afterwards

• Soak every used item in the water bucket before sweeping. Wires and cases stay hot for a long time.
• Collect the paper and cardboard and bin it away from the house, not in a corner of the compound.
• Never re-light anything that has already burned.

The law

Karnataka allows a two-hour evening window on Deepavali, normally 8:00 to 10:00 PM, and permits certified green crackers only. A silence zone of 100 metres applies around hospitals, schools and courts, and most Bengaluru apartment associations set their own rule on top of that. Rules change every season and can differ by district, so confirm the current notification. Deepavali falls on 8 November 2026. We keep the detail on the Bengaluru rules page.