Frame guidelines for cracker stalls: Traders to admn

Ludhiana: With just two months to go for Diwali, cracker traders have urged the district administration to frame guidelines for cracker stalls and ensure that at least 40 licences are issued this time instead of 13 issued last year. The traders have also decided to meet the Ludhiana deputy commissioner this week to apprise him about their demands.
Ashok Thapar, chairman, Ludhiana Wholesale Fire Works Association, said, “Dusshera is on October 8 and Diwali on October 27. The sale of crackers will start from the last week of September. Retailers from all over Punjab come to Ludhiana to buy crackers. As the formalities for issuing licences are very complicated and require a lot of time, the process to issue guidelines and schedule for allotment should start at least two months prior to the festive season.”
Thapar said, “We request the state government and district administration to issue at least 40 licences this time. Last year, as the administration had issued only 13 licences, 70% of our members could not put up stalls for sale of crackers and had suffered huge losses.”
Pardeep Gupta, president of Wholesale Fire Works Association, said, “Besides the delay in issuing guidelines and releasing a schedule, we are facing multiple problems like leftover stock. Therefore, it is necessary that we get enough time to put up our stalls this time so that we can at least be able to make up for losses suffered last year.”
“A delegation of our association will meet the deputy commissioner this week and urge him to issue the guidelines at the earliest and also ensure that appropriate number of licences are issued this time in the district,” he added.