VISAKHAPATNAM: The Supreme Court has allowed ‘green’ fireworks in areas where air quality is not poor, but execution remains a challenge for civic authorities.
Speaking to TOI, regional fire officer, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), Niranjan Reddy said only the sale of green fireworks will be allowed. The civic body, police and revenue officials will take action against those selling non-green fireworks, he added.
Fireworks traders said green crackers do not contain barium or other toxic chemicals, but the labelling on the packages does not offer information about the contents.
A senior police officer in Vizag admitted that restricting the use of non-green fireworks is an uphill task. “We can restrict the sale of non-green crackers to some extent but it’s difficult to restrict these being burst as it is very tricky to determine whether the fireworks are green or not, he added,” he added.
In Vijayawada, special teams formed by the police and civic authorities conducted searches at fireworks shops arranged at PWD grounds, and Makineni Basavapunnaiah (MB Stadium).
