Gurgaon’s cracker hub goes into black market mode

The Supreme Court on Monday imposed a ban on the sale of firecrackers in NCR till November 1 to curb pollution on and around Diwali. On Tuesday, our correspondent Rohit David and photojournalist Indranil Das travelled around Gurgaon to see if they could buy crackers. They did find sellers but no one willing to make a sale. Instead, all traders pointed towards a village off Pataudi Road — Gadoli. During festive seasons, the road to Gadoli is a prime thoroughfare for firecrackers that are sold in Gurgaon. But overnight, it had turned into a black market.

Only a night ago, during Karva Chauth, we had watched fireworks spraying the sky. Almost as if Diwali had arrived early. But when we went out looking for more of those little flying sticks on Tuesday morning, we could find none. Sellers hung around the usual places where crackers can be bought but any inquiry was met with a flat, 'ban lag gaya (there is a ban)'.

At one point, a helpful passerby (never in short supply in India), interjected: "If you want to buy firecrackers, go to Gadoli, you will get the crackers of your choice there." And off we went.

Gadoli hosts a firecrackers wholesale market. On the outskirts of Gurgaon, it's about 25km from Huda City Centre. Closer to the village, as we approached Kadipur, we saw a huge billboard advertising firecrackers. But we did not spot any shops there.

A little ahead, we met Om Prakash. He owns a shop there but viewed his two potential customers with suspicion. "I'm a small retailer. I have shut shop after the Supreme Court order. If you want firecrackers, go another mile towards Gadoli. The big wholesalers are there," he said.

On our way to the Gadoli wholesale market, we spotted hoardings with 'Firecrackers Available' written on them. We followed a direction arrow on a hoarding and reached a few shops which had their shutters down. But there was activity around them. At the parking lot, we spotted a man carrying a bag of firecrackers to a car.

"Patakhe hain? (Do you have firecrackers?)" we asked him. But the man simply ran away. As we approached the shops, we found a man signalling to people around to go inside. "What do you want?" came the question. "Patakhe milenge? (will we get firecrackers?)" we asked again. The reply was another question: "Have you not heard of the ban?"

We walked away in another direction and, after a while, came across a teenager. His response was more favourable. He signalled towards a firecrackers warehouse. It had shutters in the front and a back door. A man at the door asked us to switch off our mobile phones. Inside, I saw all kinds of firecrackers, including sparklers (phuljharis), charkhas (ground-spinners), rockets, bombs, crackers and 'ladis'.

I (Rohit) took a few pictures on my phone. But soon, a salesman approached me and said, "Clicking photographs is not allowed inside the shop." I said, "I'm sending this on WhatsApp to my family, so that they know I'm buying the right firecrackers."

The salesman then started to follow me around. "What do you want? We are selling everything at the same price," he said. A packet of sparklers was for Rs 50 and a box of charkhas was for Rs 100.

Meanwhile, Indranil was talking to two other customers, who were complaining that everything was expensive. "We bought firecrackers worth Rs 600, which on a normal day would have cost Rs 300," said one.

Indranil took a photo but two men immediately ran to us and took away our car key. They said they would return it only if we deleted the photos. We did. They then insisted on checking our WhatsApp and message folders to see if we had sent the photos to anyone before letting us go.

The biggest wholesale market for firecrackers was suddenly operating surreptitiously, in secrecy. Overnight, it had turned into a black market.