Ludhiana: Special police teams formed to check illegal storage of firecrackers

Police have invited applications for 37 temporary shops to sell crackers at six locations in Ludhiana.

Police have formed special teams to checks illegal storage of firecrackers in the city, to avoid any untoward incident during the festive season. This even as the sale of firecrackers is yet to start in the city.

The teams have been formed to check illegal storage of firecrackers, so as to avoid mishaps likes the ones seen in 2019 and 2020 in other parts of the state. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

Police have invited applications for 37 temporary shops to sell crackers, at six locations in the city.

The team was formed after Anurag Verma, principal secretary, home affairs and justice, Punjab, wrote to all commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police to conduct checks on unauthorised storage of firecrackers.

Additional director general of police (ADGP, law and order) also issued directions to the teams to check all authorised godowns for any sort of irregularity.

The SHOs have also been asked to keep regular checks in their respective areas and adopt a zero-tolerance policy against illegal storage and sale of firecrackers.

The officials have also quoted two mishaps caused by firecrackers, including the Batala firecrackers factory tragedy of September 2019 where 23 people died and the Amritsar factory explosion of August 2020.

Police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said police will allot 37 shops at six locations, including 13 shops at grain market in Salem Tabri, five shops in Model Town Extension, four shops in Dugri Phase 2, nine shops at GLADA ground on Chandigarh road, three shops at Chara Mandi, Haibowal at Humbran road and three shops in a ground near Lodhi Club road.

The traders can start selling firecrackers from October 29 to November 4.