Chennai police advisory for Diwali: only green firecrackers to be sold and burst

“No firecrackers making more than 125 decibel of sound should be manufactured, used or sold. Chinese-made crackers should not be sold or used,” the police advisory said. “Firing of rocket crackers near huts or multi-storey flats is completely banned.”

The public has been advised to avoid keeping firecrackers near a candles and oil lamps and drying wet crackers near stoves or ovens in kitchens.

“Parents and teachers are requested to explain the seriousness of fire accidents and cracker injuries to their wards and students and to teach them to burst crackers safely,” the police advisory said.

In case of fire accidents, the public should contact police and the fire and rescue department on the 112 helpline and on the 108 medical emergency helpline.

In another development, Chief Minister M K Stalin has urged his Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, not to impose a blanket ban on the sale of firecrackers because such a ban would affect the cracker manufacturing industry in Tamil Nadu.

In a letter on Wednesday, Stalin said he was reiterating a request he had made last year. Green crackers have been scientifically developed and the Supreme Court has permitted their sales through licensed traders, he wrote. “I sincerely urge you to permit the sale of firecrackers that fall within the permissible norms. When no other state has imposed a total ban on firecrackers, your kind act will light up the lives of lakhs of people around Sivakasi, especially rural women who depend on this industry for livelihood as Diwali accounts for 70 per cent of their annual business,” the chief minister wrote.

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