JAIPUR: With Diwali just a few days away , most of the markets in the Walled City and other areas are flooded with firecrackers. This year, the city police has issued almost 1,500 licences for selling firecrackers.
However, it seems that the officials of the fire and police departments are not serious when it comes to safety in these markets. There are no ways and means to ensure that traders will stick to the safety norms.
TOI on Saturday visited different markets and found that in the Walled City there are firecracker shops near burning furnaces, below electric transformers and in narrow lanes. Howe ver, seeing it as business for a short span, the police as well as the traders seem to have forgotten whatever safety aspects they had promised.
Though there is a limit prescribed by the fire officers on the amount of firecrackers a trader can keep, majority of the shops exceed the limit.
“Those with licences are given a limit of 100-300 kg for stocking firecrackers. If their stock is more than this or if they are found flouting other rules the police should take action. I will also visit and urge police authorities to take necessary action,” said Sanjay Sharma, chief fire officer, Jaipur on Saturday.
Likewise, there are provisions that licences can’t be given to shops which are close to tea stalls. Then there are also provisions on the daily unloading and stocking of firecrackers. The rules also state that there should be a distance of at least 15 metres between two shops selling crackers. However, this norm is also being flouted at many places. In densely populated areas, one can witness three to four shops selling crackers side by side.
Shops at Tripolia Bazaar and Johari Bazaar are mainly those that belong to wholesale dealers where nearly 50 tonnes of firecrackers are kept this year.
“Tonnes of firecrackers are been unloaded by the traders and are put on the road. There are no safety measures taken,” said a local at the Tripolia Bazaar.
It has also been found that very few shops in the Walled City have fire-fighting gadgets. “We issue licences only after seeing the shop. The district fire officer and deputy commissioner of police concerned go for ground verification of the shop to approve the licence. Likewise, the station house officer should also regularly visit the shops,” said a senior officer at the Jaipur police commissionerate.
However, senior police officers maintained that after issuing licences, they will conduct surprise raids on the shops to find if they are complying with the fire safety norms or not.
“We will ask the circle inspectors to check the shops in their areas and find out if the shop owner after getting licence is actually keeping fire fighting equipment. The defaulters will be penalized,” an officer said.
Date: November 1, 2015