Police have recently cracked several illegal crackers units in Chainpur village under Jajpur police station and arrested three persons. Crackers worth of Rs3 lakh were seized from them, said Jajpur SDPO Suryakanta Ray.
All the three arrested persons were booked under Sections 3, 4 and 9 of the Indian Explosive and Substance Act and Sections 4 and 5 of loudspeakers and Firework Act. They were produced in the court at Jajpur, where their bail application was rejected and they were remanded in jail custody, added Ray.
“We are trying to ensure strict implementation of cracker sale norms. Our first target is to keep tabs on cracker-manufacturing units, which according to norms, should be located at an open space away from any residential locality. We are also checking if the cracker making units and selling shops have valid licences issued by the district administration,” added the police officer.
The police would also check buses for crackers as many people carry crackers on buses for sale or use. This is dangerous and can lead to accident any time. All the police stations have been directed to prepare themselves for the drive against illegal sale of crackers, added the police officer.
The arrest of the three cracker makers is nothing but a tip of the iceberg. Though the Government is aware of illegal activities here, they seem to be reluctant to implement laws. A majority of workers who are engaged in manufacture of firecrackers come from the poorest sections of society. Though rules make it mandatory that even those who get a licence to manufacture firecrackers can handle only up to 15 kilos of explosive substances for a single event they are usually found to handle more than 500 kg of explosives, said a villager of Chainpur.
Many illegal fire- cracker making units in Jajpur district and its nearby areas are tinderboxes waiting to explode but the authority is in deep slumber by not taking any steps to close down them, he added. “In villages like Chatia, Balichandrapur, Chandikhola, Jaraka, Bari , Ratnagiri and other villages in Jajpur district and its nearby areas, about 70 cracker making units make crackers though they have not obtained proper licences,” said social worker Chittaranjan Das.
“About 400 families have been eking out their livelihoods by making crackers in many cracker units in the district and its nearby villages since time immemorial. They mint money during the festival seasons like Dussehra, Kali Puja, Diwali and in marriage seasons,” added Das.
Cracker makers endanger their lives and others by making the crackers in their small rooms in the villages and rarely take proper precaution to prepare the crackers. They also heap the explosive objects in their houses carelessly and invite danger to their lives and properties, sources said.