Chaos, illegal sales mar opening of Gadoli cracker market in Gurugram

Buyers from NCR cities thronged Gadoli, with many finding banned crackers sold freely and no sign of the district monitoring teams on site.

Serpentine snarls, with vehicles running bumper to bumper for around two kilometres, marred the roads leading to the Gadoli cracker market on Saturday, as the sale of green firecrackers started on Saturday morning across Delhi-NCR as part of the regulated Diwali celebrations. The situation was so severe that vehicles spilled onto the internal roads of Gadoli village, inconveniencing villagers and throwing their daily lives out of gear.

Locals demand relocation of Gadoli cracker market, calling it a “ticking time bomb” amid rising traffic, smoke, and unregulated sales. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

The situation was exacerbated at the wholesale market as amid authorised sellers, unlicensed traders also started setting up stalls by late afternoon due to lax checks on the ground. Traffic was also unregulated on routes from the Dwarka Expressway service road and Old Gurugram, as people from across Delhi-NCR flocked to stock up.

“We have been waiting for more than three hours just to reach the gate of the market. There are no directions, no parking, no crowd control. This is supposed to be a regulated market, but it looks more like a street fair,” said Rakesh Tewatia, who travelled from Indirapuram in Ghaziabad to purchase bulk crackers for resale.

Despite strict instructions from the district administration allowing sale of only NEERI-certified green crackers from October 18 to 20, HT found several stalls openly selling banned conventional fireworks, such as anar, ladi, bullet bombs and rockets. Crackers were being sold from large gunny sacks stacked inside godowns and even from parked trucks, with no visible signage, QR codes, or fire safety equipment.

During its visit, HT found police personnel sitting inside a few godowns—some talking to traders and others scrolling through their phones—but there was no active inspection of the goods.While the administration had claimed that district and block-level monitoring teams had been constituted, none was on the ground.

There were no fire extinguishers, no barricades separating storage areas from buyers, and no ambulances or emergency response units in sight. A single narrow lane served both for entry and exit, creating bottlenecks as more vehicles and pedestrians poured in.

A senior police official posted in the area, on the condition of anonymity, admitted the situation was “challenging.”

“It’s difficult to manage crowd and enforcement together,” the officer said. “We have limited manpower, and people are not cooperating. We are issuing warnings and will act against unlicensed sellers.”

Inspector Yogesh, station house officer of Sector 10 police station, said, “There was an excessive crowd at these godowns on Saturday morning when they opened up for the first time for sale following the order of the Supreme Court.”

Officials said that the situation eased up in the afternoon, but the rush is expected to pick up again on Sunday and Monday mornings.

Another police officer said that of the 12 licensed green cracker sellers in Gurugram, seven operate out of Sector 10 “due to which there is extreme pressure in the area as people from entire district are pouring in here. We had to even stop buyers at entrance and regulate the entry and exit with the support staff of the sellers.”

Repeated calls and messages from HT to district officials, including Deputy Commissioner Ajay Kumar and officers from the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, went unanswered.

Police admit crowd control challenges as Gadoli cracker market witnesses record turnout, illegal sales, and major traffic congestion. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Poor planning affects residents, visitors

For those living around Gadoli village, the situation has turned unbearable. The combination of smoke, crowds, and traffic has brought life to a standstill, they said.

“It takes us over an hour to drive out of our street,” said Suman Malik, a resident of Gadoli for over 15 years. “We can’t even send our children to tuition because of the jam. The whole area is filled with smoke, and people park in front of our gates. Every year, the administration promises to shift the market, but nothing happens.”

Another resident, Ajay Sihag, said the noise and pollution worsened over the past three years.

“The firecracker market used to be smaller, but now it feels like a mela. Thousands come here daily before Diwali. We have filed complaints with the administration, but they only send police to manage traffic, not to check illegal sales,” he said. “The market should be shifted outside residential limits before there’s a tragedy.”

Buyers, who had travelled from Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad, meanwhile, hit out at the lack of organisation at the market.

“We heard Gurugram still allows green crackers, so we drove all the way from Noida,” said Amit Jain, who came with his family. “We were stuck in traffic for more than two hours. Inside, it’s completely unorganised. People are pushing, shouting prices, and selling whatever they can. I doubt anyone here is checking for NEERI certification.”

Another buyer from Greater Noida, Parul Mehra, said she had come to buy “safe” fireworks for her children but was disappointed. “When we asked for green crackers, the shopkeeper laughed and said, ‘They don’t burst properly.’ It’s obvious that most of what’s being sold is traditional stock,” she said.

Local residents have urged the administration to relocate the Gadoli cracker market to an isolated area with proper safety infrastructure. “We are not against celebration but why should thousands of residents suffer every year? This market is a ticking time bomb,” said Vaishali Rana, a Gurugram-based environmentalist.

Traders defend themselves

Traders at the site argued that delays in licence renewals and confusion over what qualifies as “green crackers” have left them in a difficult position.

“The administration gave us permission late. We have both types of crackers, but buyers only want the traditional ones. If we don’t sell, we lose everything. It’s not our fault that enforcement is weak,” said one of the shopkeepers, requesting anonymity.

Some wholesalers also blamed online misinformation and bureaucratic red tape for the mess. “There’s no clarity on packaging or QR codes. Many genuine suppliers can’t get NEERI labels in time, so traders import old stock from other states,” another vendor said.

For now, the Gadoli market continues to draw thousands each day — a symbol of the city’s inability to balance festive fervour with public safety, and of how rules meant to prevent pollution have, once again, gone up in smoke.