The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation announced Thursday that it will ban the explosion or lighting of all firecrackers in public places during the next
Diwali festival.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani He said that any offender will be sanctioned and the POE on the matter will be issued shortly.
The ban has been proposed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of winter that has begun.
An official said to burst firecrackers it would release a lot of smoke and other pollutants that would negatively affect the health of Covid-19 patients and increase the risk of infection among the other high-risk categories, such as children or the elderly.
Official sources said even the Maharashtra government is likely to impose similar bans on firecrackers in public, considering the grim Covid-19 scenario in many parts of the state and apprehensions of a second wave of infection that could occur in winter.
Maharashtra currently has the highest number of cases and deaths due to contagion with the maximum number of active patients in Pune, Thane, Bombay, Nashik, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Raigad and Satara. The state has recorded 16,98,198 infections to date and 44,548 deaths since the first case on March 9.
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