After the Supreme Court banned the sale of crackers in Delhi till 1 November, owing to the terrible air quality post Diwali, Delhiites will now need to travel anywhere between 140 and 200 km to get them, Hindustan Times reported.
Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Gurgaon on the eastern and southern peripheries of Delhi are also under the ban’s purview.
The entire cost scales up by a few thousands including fuel, commute time and other expenses, all for the sake of few fireworks.
Aligarh which is 140 km away is the closest place to buy the crackers legally, after which comes Alwar (158 km), Mathura (162 km), Bijnor (163 km), Hissar (172 km), Moradabad (180 km) or Ambala (202 km).
While activists and environmentalists consider the ban a welcome move, traders have been hard-hit as many of them have made advance payments to their suppliers, which make up the Rs 15-20 crore business.
In 2016, Gurgaon’s administration had issued 200 temporary licenses, down from the 500 issued in earlier years. Crackers were allowed to be sold for three days at sector 29, HUDA ground near sector 5 and the Gaushala ground near Sadar Bazar.
City fire officer IS Kashyap said that the temporary licenses have not been issued yet and that the process would commence on 12 October.
In Ghaziabad’s Farrukhnagar, where the cracker manufacturing units exist, around 2,500 families, in and around the villages stand to get affected.
Ghaziabad officials are waiting for a detailed order.
Noida’s district magistrate, BN Singh, has urged RWAs to appeal to their members to not burst crackers.
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