VIJAYAWADA: Restrictions on the sale and use of firecrackers imposed recently by the state government are worrying traders who have already invested lakhs of rupees this Diwali season. Some of them opined that the decision to sell only green crackers should have come a few months ago, and not in the eleventh hour. In Vijayawada, the civic body has given permission for establishment of the makeshift fireworks shops at Swaraj Maidan (PWD Grounds) and Gymkhana Grounds, Gandhi Nagar. Due to some delay in obtaining permission, the traders began unloading stocks at their stalls on Wednesday evening.
B Chinna Rao, who has been in the business for the last two decades, said his financial condition is under huge strain, thanks to the pandemic. “I invested around `5 lakh this season expecting to make some profits through the sale of firecrackers. However, all my hopes crashed as the government issued guidelines to sell only green crackers. How can the government issue such guidelines when the festival is only a few days away?”
G Venkata Raman, who owns a wholesale shop in Bhavanipuram, said the fireworks industry generates a significant amount of revenue for the government. “If the government was so committed to safeguarding the public health, it should have taken up a massive campaign about the sale of green crackers, and made it mandatory for all industrial units to manufacture only them. The industry gives livelihood to thousands of workers, directly or indirectly,” Raman observed.
Speaking to TNIE, AP Pollution Control Board (PCB) environmental engineer SSS Murali said the government issued the order on the sale and bursting of only green crackers during Diwali keeping in view the Covid-19 pandemic. “Firecrackers are made with flash powder, cordite, smokeless powder and black powder. Green crackers produce 30-35 per cent less emissions and are approved by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).
“At present, many people don’t have knowledge of green crackers, which are of three types: Safe Water Releaser (SWAS), Safe Thermite Crackers (STAR) and Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL). These crackers don’t have chemicals such as lithium, barium, lead and arsenic,” Murali added.Meanwhile, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s estate officer N Sridhar has directed the traders to sell only green crackers.
In a meeting held with them at Hanumantharaya Grandhalayam here, Sridhar said a gap of 10-feet should be maintained between each stall and the traders should ensure six feet distance among the customers. The estate officer added surprise checks will be conducted and stocks will be seized if the traders violate Covid-19 guidelines.
Downpour dampens sale in Vizag
In Visakhapatnam, several cracker vendors saw a few to almost no customers as the city experienced heavy rains on Wednesday. “We hoped to sell at least half of the stock we had brought with us, but today was such a disappointment,” lamented A Suresh, a salesperson from Bobilli at a makeshift shop. “Most people bought small-scale crackers like flower pots, pencils, sparklers. No one bought ‘100 ladis’ or ‘1000 ladis’.” At AS Raja Grounds, vendors had only begun setting up their stalls when the bad weather played spoilsport as the ground turned muddy. “It started raining before we even began loading our stock. There was no sale for the entire day,” said Tarun, a vendor.