No more firecrackers at political rallies, weddings; Officials to face heat for Attibele incident

BENGALURU: Following the blaze at a firecracker shop at Attibele, in which 14 people were burnt alive, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday chaired a high-level review meeting at his home office ‘Krishna’. It was decided that bursting of firecrackers will be banned in all political events, conventions, weddings, Ganesha idol festival and all processions and only green firecrackers will be allowed.

After the meeting, the CM said officers have been instructed to allow only green firecrackers during processions and other events while all other firecrackers will be banned. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar was also present at the media briefing.

Siddaramaiah warned that if there are firecracker shops which are functioning in violation of the Supreme Court orders and the green firecracker regulations, strict action will be taken against them. Henceforth, licences for firecracker shops will be issued only as per Supreme Court orders and strict action should be taken against violators, he said.

The CM said officials have been instructed to suspend the local tahsildar, local police inspector, and local fire brigade chief and to issue a notice to the Deputy Commissioner and the district superintendent of police regarding the Attibele case.

Ramaswamy Reddy, the firecracker vendor, had taken a licence to sell firecrackers, but not for the warehouse. He has bought firecrackers from Tamil Nadu. In September, a licence was issued to him which was valid until 2026, but the license was fake, and action will be taken against all those involved, the CM added.

“Instructions have also been given to renew the licences every year, unlike earlier when they were valid for five years. Now we have made it mandatory to get a licence every year. It is mandatory to have sufficient space in front and sides of the firecracker godowns”, he added.

In the meeting, a discussion was held on steps to be taken to prevent recurrence of incidents like the Attibele case in the state, and many measures were announced. Senior government officials including Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, Director General of Police Alok Mohan, CM’s political secretaries Govindaraju, Naseer Ahmed and other senior officers were present.