Mumbai: On Thursday, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation declared that it will ban lighting or bursting of all firecrackers at public spots during the approaching Diwali festival.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani stated that any violators will be penalized and the SOPs in this matter would be given shortly.
The ban has been proposed taking into account the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the early winter that has set in.
An official told that bursting fireworks would cause a ton of smoke and different pollutants which would negatively affect the health of COVID-19 patients and increase the danger of infection among the other high-risk categories like senior citizens or children.
Official sources stated even the Maharashtra government is probably going to enforce comparative restrictions on firecrackers in Mumbai public areas considering the grim COVID-19 situation in numerous parts of the state and fears of a second wave of the disease that may hit in winter.
Maharashtra at present has the highest cases and deaths because of the virus with the maximum number of active patients in Pune, Thane, Mumbai, Nashik, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Raigad and Satara. The state has reported 16,98,198 infections till date and 44,548 deaths since the initial case on March 9.
Even the Delhi government has chosen to ban firecrackers, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reported on Thursday. On Twitter, Arvind Kejriwal said the decision was taken at a meeting to audit the COVID-19 situation as the national capital is seeing a sharp ascent in cases. The Chief Minister said COVID-19 cases are rising a result of the festival season and increasing pollution.
The government of Rajasthan took the first step and has banned the sale of firecrackers so it can protect the health of the COVID-19 infected patients as well as keeping the health of the common people, who might feel uncomfortable with the smoke emanating from firecrackers. West Bengal and Odisha followed the suit and banned the bursting of firecrackers throughout the festive season.
