12 PCB officials face suspension

GHAZIABAD: A day after the Supreme Court issued a ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR till November 1, the Ghaziabad administration went on an overdrive to enforce it. While various teams from enforcement agencies surveyed the city to enforce the ban, officials from the district UP pollution control board (UPPCB) office allegedly did not participate in the exercise, "forcing" SDM (Sadar) Prem Ranjan Singh to recommend suspension of the board's regional manager, along with 11 of his subordinates.

In a letter addressed to district magistrate Ritu Maheshwari, Singh recommended suspension of regional manager Ajay Sharma, along with 11 officials of the district UPPCB office. "While the entire administrative machinery was out in the field to enforce the SC ban on sale of fire-crackers, district UPPCB officials deliberately kept themselves away. So I wrote a letter to the DM, recommending suspension of its regional manager Ajay Sharma and 11 subordinates," said Prem Ranjan Singh, SDM (Sadar).

DM Maheshwari, who was in Meerut at the time, later spoke to TOI, saying the recommendation for suspension needs to be scrutinised. "I'm yet to go through the content of the letter. In any case, the charges levelled against regional manager Sharma and others will be scrutinised as per norms. Only after that will the recommendation for further action be forwarded to the state government."

Though the SDM is yet to elaborate on the exact nature of infringement that made him take the action, by statute UPPCB is not an implementing agency.

Sharma, the pollution board regional manager in the eye of the storm, did not take the call when TOI tried to contact him for his comment.

In a related development, the administration on Tuesday morning carried out a raid in Farrukhnagar, which is a hub for firecracker shops. "We carried out raids in Farrukhnagar and sealed 31 fire-cracker shops. The shopkeepers have been apprised of the SC ban and ordered to comply with it in letter and spirit," said Atul Kumar, SDM (Loni).

"Our mobile units will keep surveying the area, even during nights, to ensure that the SC ban is complied with," he added.

Firecracker traders are, meanwhile, up in arms against the ban. On Tuesday, they took out a protest march in Ghanta Ghar area. "The SC ban has come just days before Diwali. We'd already ordered fresh stocks, and will incur huge financial loss due to this ban," said Ashutosh Gupta of the firecracker traders' association. "We've already filed a petition against it in the apex court. It remains to be seen whether we'll get any reprieve," he added.