More than 100 fireworks sellers have been granted licences to sell green crackers at four bazi bazars in Calcutta that will be operational from November 6 to November 12.
Calcutta police officers and those from adjoining police commissionerates, along with various government agencies, held a meeting at the Police Training School on Friday to finalise the standard operating procedure (SOP) that would be followed at the bazi bazars.
A senior police officer who attended the meeting said 116 stalls would be set up at four bazi bazars following specific guidelines about storing and selling the green crackers.
“It has been decided that a minimum gap of 9 feet has to be maintained between two stalls and the ceiling has to be made out of fire-proof tarpaulin,” said the officer.
According to the Calcutta High Court guideline this year, only green crackers that would emit up to 125 decibels of sound, when measured 4 meters from the source of bursting the cracker, will be permissible between 8pm and 10pm on Diwali night, November 12.
Once the bazi bazars are operational, a joint inspection will be carried out, said a government official who was also at the meeting.
The inspection will be carried out by the police, the fire department, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and other agencies would be carried out, said the government official.
“There will be 44 stalls in the Tala bazi bazar, 18 in Behala, 24 in Kalikapur and 30 at the Shahid Minar bazi bazar,” said Subhankar Manna, general secretary of the West Bengal Fireworks Association.
The emission testing of the firecrackers will be carried out at a Haldia laboratory and the sound testing will be done on the Tala Park premises on Saturday.
“It has been decided to publish and distribute leaflets and banners emphasising the use of green crackers only. The penalties and punishment for the use of unauthorised firecrackers will also be mentioned in the awareness material,” Manna said.
