Police lay down rules for sale of fireworks

With the sale of fireworks all set to start in a few days, the district police issued a set of guidelines to be followed by shopkeepers and traders at the stalls.

Superintendent of Police (Visakhapatnam Rural), B. Krishna Rao, in a release on Friday, said that applicants can directly approach the concerned Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in their police station limits for the grant of temporary license to possess and sell fireworks for the Deepavali festival scheduled on November 14.

The SP said that the fireworks shall be kept in a shed made of non-flammable material, which will be closed and secured. The sheds shall be at a distance of at least three metres from each other and 50 m from any protected work.

The stalls shall not be facing each other, he said, adding that the shopkeepers should not use any oil burning lamps, gas lamps or naked lights in the shed or within the danger zone of the sheds. Electrical lights, if used, shall be fixed to the wall or ceiling and shall not be suspended by flexible wire. He also added that water should be stored in barrels of 200 litres and buckets with dry sand at the shops.