21st October 2016

- The Times of India

China cracker ban gets seal from collector

BHOPAL: Day after collectors in other districts ordered a ban on sale of Chinese crackers, Bhopal collector Nishant Varwade on Thursday issued an order to this effect. In a related development, Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) council passed a resolution the same day banning products of Chinese make, particularly crackers.

The order came after Varwade received an advisory from state home department and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) on Wednesday.

The ban was triggered by a letter from the ministry of commerce and industry, which claimed to have received information about a large number of firecrackers of foreign origin being brought into the country under false declarations. The MP home department promptly sent out advisories to district collectors and superintendents of police, asking them to clamp down on foreign crackers. The home department also received a similar note from PESO following intelligence inputs on stocking of clandestinely imported fireworks.

Talking to TOI, Varwade said, "I have issued the order, the procedure will be conducted by all the SDMs in their areas. A random check will be produced by SDMs and their teams to local vendors so that awareness can be generated among vendors as well as consumers." ADM Ratnakar Jha said they have imposed a condition in permission that is granted to firework vendors, stating no foreign crackers will be sold in the city.

For monitoring process, all the SDMs are ordered to run a drive in cracker markets to keep a check on vendors and stock kept by them, he said, adding the same order was also generated last year. .

In a related development, the resolution tabled by Congress corporator Monu Saxena, was unanimously adopted by the BMC council. Mayor Alok Sharma said, "In my personal view, all Chinese items should be banned as China has supported Pakistan during current conflict."

Taking it further, BMC chairman Surjeet Singh Chouhan demanded wrappers on Chinese crackers depict Gods and Goddess and it should be immediately banned.

During council meet on Thursday, mayor Alok Sharma and others took offence to the discourse by leader of opposition Mohammed Sagheer. Irked over repeated disruption by Sagheer, Sharma went to the extent of demanding that Congress change its leader of opposition in BMC.