Mira Bhayandar: The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has landed into yet another controversy after allowing firecracker stalls amidst densely populated areas in the twin city.
One such firecracker stall which has come up at Hutatma Garden - an amenity space in the sprawling Sheetal Nagar area of Mira Road has invited the ire of local citizens including parents of Major Kaustubh Prakash Rane - who was amongst the four brave hearts who were martyred while fighting terrorists on the Jammu-Kashmir border in August-2018.
The citizens staged a protest by squatting outside the stall on Thursday. The MBMC claims to have identified 20 open grounds where vendors can establish their shops and carry out their trading activities in a safer environment. Subsequently, around 135 stalls were awarded permissions, however the actual numbers are said to be much higher. Oblivious to the dangers posed by hundreds of makeshift firecracker stalls that have mushroomed in the twin city, the civic administration continues to play with fire.
In sharp contrast to rules, most of the stalls have been set-up along congested roads, narrow by lanes and amidst densely populated residential areas which not only causes inconvenience to pedestrians and hindrance to traffic movement, but also pose a safety hazard. Though, there is a limit prescribed by the fire officers on the number of firecrackers a trader can keep, majority of the shops exceed the limit. The rule of minimum distance is being flouted at many places where a row of stalls have been made side-by-side without proper operating fire fighting equipment. Under the relevant sections of the Indian Explosive Act, it is binding upon the fireworks stall owners to obtain No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the police, fire department, and the district authorities.
