Odisha firecracker traders seek single window clearance for licence

BHUBANESWAR: With the Orissa High Court allowing use of green crackers certified by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) on Diwali, the All Odisha Firecrackers Dealers Association on Monday urged the State government to open a single window system to grant licence for sale of such crackers in a hassle-free manner.

Welcoming the High Court decision, Association president Trilochan Patnaik said as only two days are left for Diwali, the licence distribution system needs to be simplified to benefit the traders. "We have requested the government to make arrangements for issuing licence and other approvals to the retailers at the local police stations so that they would not need to run from one place to another to obtain permission," he said.

Patnaik said all the authorised manufacturers are making PESO certified 'green-crackers'. However, locally manufactured crackers need to be regulated by the State government to check the sale of regular crackers.

Lawyer Gautam Mukherjee said since there was an allegation in the Supreme Court on sale of fake green crackers, responsibility has been given to PESO along with the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to certify that the green crackers are free from any prohibited substance.

Traders in the city, however, said that most of the products that will be available in the market before Diwali will be old stock as it is not possible for them to place orders for fresh stock.