VIJAYAWADA: Sale of firecrackers in Andhra Pradesh is expected to dip by 60–70 percent in Andhra Pradesh this Diwali festival with the state government permitting only green crackers, that too only for two hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, the festival day.
The state government’s orders came following directives of National Green Tribunal to limit burning of crackers this Diwali, so as to check air pollution, which could aggravate respiratory problems among Coronavirus patients.
Given these reasons, a good number of people are hesitating to purchase crackers while some have reduced the amount of fireworks they normally purchase on the occasion.
AP mostly imports firecrackers from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, though it used to earlier also get them at far cheaper rates from China. The Chinese imports have, however, stopped following strained relationships between the two countries.
With Covid-19 pandemic prevailing, wholesale traders of AP have played it safe by ordering only for limited quantities of firecrackers from Sivakasi. Some of them even decided not to order any crackers. Greater Vijayawada Municipal Corporation district fire officer T. Srinivas disclosed, “The number of cracker traders seeking fire NOC for setting up shops has come down to 40 unlike 70–80 earlier.
Vijayawada police commissioner B. Srinivasulu said, “We have issued an order asking people to burst only green crackers during the stipulated hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. If anyone flouts the order, we will book cases against them for violation of the City Police Act.”
State police have threatened that they could book cases even under provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005, and section 188 of IPC, which provide for are more stringent punishment.
AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation state president V. Bhaskara Rao said, “We are expecting the sale of fireworks to be only 30–40 percent of the normal because of Coronavirus and restrictions put in by authorities. Normally, the volume of sales during Diwali would run into hundreds of crores. But it will come down drastically during this season,” he added.
