There are not many takers for licences to set up temporary stalls for the sale of crakers on the occasion of Deepavali on November 14. Only around 200 applications were received so far.
According to Regional Fire Officer (RFO), GVMC, Niranjan Reddy, about 150 applications were received for setting up stalls at Andhra University Engineering Grounds, nearly 25 applications were received to set up stalls at NTR Grounds, Anakapalle. Apart from them, another 20 received for setting up shops in other places in the GVMC limits.
“Compared to last year, when we started to receive applications in the first 10 days, the response is lukewarm. But we have some more days time. May be a few more may come forward after Dasara,” he said.
He said that in 2019, the total applications received for setting up firecracker stalls under the GVMC limits was around 350.
On October 8, Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha invited applications for stalls and also made it clear that no application will be entertained after October 25. The applicants were asked to take No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the district authorities, Fire Officer, GVMC, electricity site plan and temporary shop/shops agreement from the owner of the land. A licence fee of ₹500 also to be paid through treasury challan. The Police Commissioner also issued a set of rules for setting up of shops.
According to the Police and Fire Department sources, many associations are yet to take a decision due to the COVID-19 situation and unavailability of several grounds. Temporary rythu bazaars have been set up in several grounds to avoid overcrowding. Meanwhile, the Fire Department officials have strictly said that they would not allow any stalls near the road.
“Generally, many applications used to be received to set up stalls at MVP Colony and some other places. But this year as some of those grounds are already occupied, not many came forward. May be the associations are looking for spots which are feasible for their business,” said a senior police officer from the city.
The district officials are also mulling increasing the number of sale days to avoid overcrowding. Till last year, the authorities used to give only three days for sale of crackers. This year, the authorities may increase the number of days. However, a final decision is yet to be taken.
