BHOPAL: The customers are feeling the pinch in their pockets due to lack of proper guidelines for rates of fire crackers to be used in festivals.
The shopkeepers in various markets of Bhopal are selling fire crackers as per their whims.
The explosive department and the district administration are shifting the onus of deciding the rates of the fireworks on the manufacturers.
These two departments only issue license for the sale of the explosives to the shopkeepers.
Firecrackers price presently depends upon the bargaining of the buyers.
The retail shop owners in old Bhopal areas and in Kolar are selling crackers in three sizes. Anar, Fuljhari, rockets, Chakari, sulti bomb, chatai bomb with large series, colourful seires, pistols with sounds, bombs with heavy sounds, small size chocolate bombs, bidi bombs among others.
For anar, the shopkeepers are charging Rs 8, Rs 12 and even Rs 50 for a piece. For Fuljhari (sparkler), they are avilable in packets are sold between Rs 125 and Rs 150. For the rockets, the shopkeepers are taking miniumum Rs 20 and maximum Rs 100 for a piece. The rotating sparker or chakari is being sold at Rs 10, Rs 30 and Rs 70.
Mohan Agrawal, a customer we spoke to says the festivals are period when we should not bargain much and these items are sold only in the season and that is why we do not think much before paying.
He said due to high inflation the price of the daily use commodities are skyrocketing then why should we only worry about crackers that are only brought only on festivals.
No authority to fix price: Waziruddin, deputy controller of explosive department in Madhya Pradesh says that they are supposed to issue license and that they have no authority to fix price of any commodity.
He says the department only examines the quality of the explosives and whether other norms for safety are being followed there or not.
‘Manufacturer has to decide rates’
Tarun Pithode, collector Bhopal says the district administration is not supposed to fix the rates of any commodity and that only the manufacturer has to decide the rates.
