New Delhi: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said that bursting firecrackers on Diwali in Delhi will attract a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 200, as reported by the news agency PTI.
While addressing a press conference, he said production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the national capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years in prison under Section 9B of the Explosives Act.
“The purchase and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi will be punishable with a fine of ₹200 and six months in jail under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Manufacturing, storing, firecrackers in Delhi punishable with fine up to ₹5,000 and three years in jail," Environment Minister Gopal Rai said.
In September, the Aam Aadmi Party-led government re-forced a total prohibition on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, including on Diwali, a practice it has been following throughout the previous two years.
Rai said a public awareness campaign, ''Diye Jalao Patakhe Nahi'', will be launched on October 21.
The Delhi government will light 51,000 diyas at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday.
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''The purchase and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi will be punishable with a fine of Rs 200 and six months in jail under the Indian Penal Code,'' the minister said.
Rai said 408 teams have been set up to implement the ban. The Delhi Police has set up 210 teams under assistant commissioners of police, while the Revenue Department has set up 165 teams and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee has comprised 33 teams.
The minister also said 188 cases of infringement have been detected and 2,917 kg firecrackers seized till October 16.