The National Burns Centre in Airoli (Navi Mumbai) always wishes the city a 'safe Diwali'. "That is much before we say happy," laughed Dr Sunil Keswani, director of the tertiary burns centre near Mumbai.

The centre has a 24-hour helpline for firecracker injuries. "We usually see 20 to 25 people come into our centre with cracker-related injuries post Diwali," said Dr Keswani, adding that, "Seven out of 10 times, we see that the anar (fountain) has burst in the hand. Sometimes, those lighting fireworks get too close to the fountain, which for some reason may take some time to erupt. They bend over, and it suddenly bursts. Usually, the eyes shut automatically as the cracker bursts, so it is the eyelids that get burnt. Sometimes, very rarely though, we see damage to the cornea."