‘State to discuss possibility of relaxing norms for manufacturers of green firecrackers’

KOLKATA: The state government will hold a meeting with Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), formerly known as Department of Explosives, to discuss whether any relaxation can be provided to the norms for green cracker manufacturers in the state when it comes to developing clusters.

Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi held a meeting with the representatives of green cracker manufacturing units across the state at Nabanna Sabhaghar on Tuesday. The association members pointed out that the nature of crackers produced in the state are not the same as that in Sivakasi and hence certain stringent provisions of the Explosive Act can be relaxed in the context of Bengal, particularly the quantum of land for cluster development. They said that for certain items like sparklers, PESO laws can be relaxed. “We will discuss the issue with PESO to examine whether some benefits can be provided to green cracker manufacturers in the state,”a senior Nabanna official who attended the meeting said.

Suggestions were sought from the stakeholders on simplifying the process for issuance of licenses so that it can be fast-tracked. A team from the state government that visited Sivakasi to study the cluster model there has already suggested simplification of the license issuing process. The process of issuing licenses to the manufacturers is a lengthy one in the state.

The stakeholders have been asked to assist the district administration in finding out land where green cracker manufacturing clusters can be developed. “We have 4 bigha khas land and another 10 bigha will be procured at Nandarampur area in Budge Budge-Maheshtala belt for developing a cluster,”Sukdev Naskar of Pradesh Atasbazi Byabsayee Samity said.