Residents can burst crackers from 8-10 pm on Diwali

Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate Sakshi Sawhney has issued the guidelines for bursting firecrackers on festival days as per the orders issued by the Supreme Court. Temporary licences will be issued in the district for the sale of firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali and Gurpurb. Besides, timings for bursting firecrackers on Diwali, Gurpurb, Christmas and the New Year in the district have also been set as per the guidelines of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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As per the HC orders, a provisional licence will be issued for the sale of firecrackers within the district.

On Diwali, firecrackers can be fired from 8 pm to 10 pm and on Gurpurb, from 4 am to 5 am and at night from 9 pm to 10 pm. Similarly, on the Christmas Eve, from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am, the next morning and on the New Year’s Eve from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am the next morning, as the timings of bursting fireworks have been fixed. Firecrackers of any kind before and after this time will be prohibited and action will be taken against violators. The sale of firecrackers on website, e-commerce site, etc, has been banned too.

Meanwhile, Amritsar Improvement Trust Chairman Ashok Talwar, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Jyoti Bala, led the draw of firecracker sellers.

The ADC said 1,822 applications were received from firecracker traders, of which 15 draws have been made. She said only green firecrackers, which are approved by CSIR-NEERI, will be sold.