Govt asks police, customs to enforce ban on foreign crackers

Gearing up for Diwali, the Delhi government has written to the Delhi Police and the Customs Department to “strictly” enforce the ban on the import and sale of foreign-made firecrackers in the national Capital, a move essentially aimed at reining in the Chinese fireworks menace.

Besides, the govrenment has announced to constitute inspection teams under Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and executive engineers of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to carry out inspections across the city and take action against shops selling Chinese and prohibited crackers. 

The environment department has also written to the Delhi Police Commissioner and the Commissioner of Customs Department to cooperate with the government and ensure that banned crackers are not sold in the national Capital.

“The inspecting teams will check the availability of imported firecrackers in the market,” said Imran Hussain, Delhi’s environment minister. He added that the government had launched an ‘Anti-Firecracker’ campaign during the ongoing the festive season and generate awareness among masses, particularly schoolchildren, on the ill-effects of cracker bursting.  

The government has also directed cracker manufactures and suppliers to follow the rules and cooperate in making Delhi less polluted. 

In a letter to the Police Commissioner, the minister has urged the police department to ensure restriction on granting licences for the sale of firecrackers and also see to ti the shops don’t store/ sell banned crackers. 

The licensing branch of Delhi Police has been directed to ensure that all wholeseller licence-holders are informed about the rules and warned that action would be taken in case of a violation. 

Officials of the Delhi Police’s licensing unit have been directed to conduct random checks at godowns to ascertain if they are storing imported firecrackers.

“Compliance of the Supreme Court order as issued on July 18 and 25 regarding noise pollution and prevention, especially relating to a ban on bursting of firecrackers between 10 pm to 6 am, should be ensured by the enforcement agencies,” added Hussain. 

 “The government is seeking active cooperation from all enforcement agencies in monitoring air and noise pollution, especially during the festival season,” said Hussain. 

He also urged the residents to cooperate in making the campaign successful, which would help in controlling air and noise pollution during Diwali. 

In the letter to Customs Commissioner, environment minister has asked him to ensure that no person shall import firecrackers from any country and customs shall ensure that such consignment, which violates the norm, should not enter Delhi.