Pune: Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday and Friday razed 19 illegal firecracker stalls in the Satara Road area. According to PMC officials, these stalls were encroaching on public spaces and were also causing safety concerns.A senior official of the PMC’s anti-encroachment department said the civic body had issued public notices directing people not to set up illegal stalls. “However, such stalls were still set up, so they were razed. We will take similar action against people violating the guidelines in the coming days as well.”As per PMC guidelines, setting up temporary or seasonal firecracker stalls (such as during festival periods like Diwali) requires strict adherence to safety, licensing and urban planning regulations governed by the Explosives Rules (2008) under the Explosives Act, and by local municipal corporations (e.g., PMC), the police department and the fire services.“Stalls must be set up in designated open spaces clear of footpaths or public roads, maintaining a minimum 3-metre gap between adjacent stalls and a safety clearance of at least 10 metres from main roads and buildings. Vendors must construct single-storey structures using non-combustible materials, strictly avoiding cloth or tarpaulin covers, and equip each stall with dry sand buckets, water, and DCP fire extinguishers,” the official said.Additionally, stalls must enforce strict safety rules against open flames, smoking and naked wiring, while adhering to licensed storage limits and selling only legally permitted fireworks. “Violations of the said guidelines will result in stock confiscation and stall demolition by municipal squads,” the officer said.
