VIJAYAWADA: Ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights, the State Fire Safety Department is focusing on fire cracker vendors and warehouse operators. The department has decided to allot specific areas for the sale of crackers on the periphery of towns and cities and in exceptional cases some safe locations within cities or towns. The permission to the firecracker shops will come with a rider — safety first, clarifies the Fire Safety Department. The safe approach become even more necessary with a latest fire accident at Chinakakani village in Mangalagiri mandal of Guntur district resulting in a property loss of worth six lakh of rupees.
Southern Region Fire officer D Murali Mohan said that to ensure a safe Diwali which falls on October 19, the fire department has identified some safer places in various towns and cities, which are away from residential, commercial and congested areas. “Sale of firecrackers will be allowed only at these places,” he explained. According to him, the identified places include the park near Jail Road in Visakhapatnam and Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada, Ananda Bharathi grounds and Kulayi Cheruvu in Kakinada. There are similar places identified across cities, town and suburbs in the State. Further, measures are being taken to ensure a gap of three meters between two firecracker shops.
Water, sand and mini water tanks are also kept ready on the prmises of the shops as an immediate fire fighting measures. Since many of the organisations that sell the firecrackers have associated with political leaders, the Fire Safety department is planning to hold meetings with them before granting permission for the shops. Focus is also on the manufacturing units in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and Guntur. There are five major fire cracker manufacturing in the State and most of the firecrackers are imported from Tamil Nadu and other places.