In a first, Noida issues 3 licences for sale of acid

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar administration has for the first time issued licences for the sale of acid in the district. Three licences were given out on Monday to vendors for the sale of different kinds of acid for industrial use only, officials said.
The Supreme Court had in 2013 banned the open sale of acid and made it mandatory for all sellers to obtain licences from the administration under the Poison Act, 1919, and maintain a separate register pertaining to sale of acid. A year later, the state government also framed rules making sale and possession of acid without licence illegal.
Officials said the licences were issued after the three vendors applied for the same in the wake of a clampdown on illegal sale of acid across the district in the past two weeks.
“We want to prevent any kind of attack or untoward incident and have maintained strict vigil against retail sale of acid. However, we also want to ensure that industrial work is not hampered in the district. Therefore, we have issued licences to three vendors who supply acid to industries,” said Rajeev Rai, sub-divisional magistrate, Dadri.
“This is for the first time that we have issued three licences in Gautam Budh Nagar in the past five years, though rules were passed by the government in 2014,” he added.
In the raids in the past two weeks, four shops have been sealed and three people arrested for selling acid illegally. Authorities also recovered 70 litres of acid from these shops. Moreover, an illegal acid factory was shut down last week. Two staff working there were arrested and 35 tonnes of acid recovered.
“So far, there was little enforcement. Those selling acid even commercially had not taken licenses, though the rules have been in place. Once the raids started and we increased enforcement, we started getting applications for the sale of acids. We are still keeping checks and asking residents to report about any illegal sale of acid,” Rai said.
All licenses have been issued within a day of applying after conducting background checks, officials said. The vendors supply acids for electroplating and other industries. The licencees are going to supply products such as acetic acid, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde, sodium hydrochloride and phenyl.
The Uttar Pradesh Poisons (Possession and Sale) Rules, 2014, state that nobody other than those with a valid license can possess or sell acid or other similar products listed as ‘poison’ in the rules.