A section of firework sellers in the city has said on Saturday that it would be “not possible” for them to organise the four bazi bazaars (fireworks retail markets) in Kolkata this year considering the miniscule availability of green fireworks as well as safe space to stock up such fireworks.
If the government-supported bazi bazaars are not set up, effectively no firework will be sold commercially in city this year as judicial orders have banned selling of fireworks at any space other than these designated markets, which generally come up at Tala, Kalikapur, Behala and Bijoygarh.
“We have taken a decision that it would be not possible for us to organise the four bazi bazaars in Kolkata this year unless government provides the space to hoard such fireworks and green fireworks are adequately available …” reads a statement signed by Subhankar Manna of Tolly Bazi Bazaar on behalf all bazi bazaars, a copy of which is with The Plurals.
The firework business fraternity accepted that in the absence of legal bazi bazaars, illegal fireworks would spread in the markets but observed that they are “helpless”.
A senior government official observed that it would be too early to comment on the issue and expect higher echelons of the administration to sort out the impasse. “Though the scenario with green fireworks is bit complicated this year, especially after the recent spell of blasts, I am still hopeful that the bazi bazaars would be held as under chief minister’s directive. The chief secretary is looking into the issue,” he added.
But the firework business fraternity is not hopeful.
“Firstly, under the current situation in the state, we are not sure whether adequate number of green fireworks can be made available for the bazi bazaars. Secondly, most firework sellers are yet to book consignments of fireworks even from outside the state like Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu as the government has not yet organised any space or warehouse to hoard them safely,” added Manna.
“We are extremely scared after series of fireworks blasts killed so many and hence, we do not want to take the risk of hoarding it in residences as in previous years,” said another.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has recently urged the mass production of green fireworks in the state but that is unlikely to happen before the next festive season as so far less than 250 persons have received training for manufacturing green fireworks in the state from National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the agency mandated by the Supreme Court to prepare green firework formulations and impart the training, and only seven units have got the final West Bengal Pollution Control Board clearance for manufacturing such fireworks.
According to sources, even if the state government works swiftly to set up a few clusters for manufacturing green fireworks, it is unlikely that many legal green fireworks would be produced in the state before the ensuing festival season which is around two months away, as permission protocol is quite lengthy.
“It’s a fact that green fireworks have not been much produced in the state and there are problems with hoarding. I expect the government to take a decision on the issue,” Sukhdeb Chakrabarty, the secretary of Pradesh Atasbaji Byabsayee Samity told The Plurals on Saturday evening.