Stern action against use of firecrackers being enforced

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Oct. 21: Authorities have intensified action to restrict the use of firecrackers during the upcoming festival of Tihar. According to the daily news bulletins of Nepal Police Headquarters, the law enforcement agency has confiscated firecrackers worth around Rs. 3,399,204 over October 11-20 from across the country.

The seized firecrackers were destroyed by the authorities after completing necessary legal procedures. Nepal Police seized firecrackers worth more than Rs. 700,000 from Sunsari and Kanchanpur districts. On October 13, Rs. 700,000 worth firecrackers were seized from Ward No. 2 of Inaruwa Municipality in Sunsari district by the district’s police.

Similarly, Rs. 727,500 worth stranded firecrackers were confiscated by Kanchanpur District Police Office from the bus park in Ward No. 7 of Bhimdutta Municipality on October 18.

The 19 confiscation details from the daily bulletins shows that eleven of the seizures were made in Morang (6) and Jhapa (5). 

Police officers informed that the firecrackers are always smuggled from India as they are not produced in Nepal due to which the items are mostly confiscated in Terai districts bordering India.

After the firecrackers are smuggled into Terai, they are further transported to different parts of the country. 

On October 14, police seized three sacks of firecrackers while checking a passenger bus (Na 5 Kha 6411) coming from Birgunj at Nagdhunga check-post in Kathmandu. 

While authorities have been able to seize the firecrackers, smugglers are hardly arrested. In the 19 seizures across the country, police were able to arrest only one individual.

Jitendra Rajbanshi, 30, was arrested while he was carrying firecrackers worth Rs. 150,000 in his three-wheeler (Province 1-02-002 Ha 8789) from Ward No. 9 of Rangeli Municipality in Morang on October 11.

In other seizures, police either found the firecrackers stranded or the smugglers fled by leaving the firecrackers after sighting the officers.

Nevertheless, authorities informed that they have intensified surveillance along the border areas and public vehicles to confiscate firecrackers. 

For almost two decades, Nepal government has been prohibiting use of firecrackers due to its adverse impact on health and environment. 

According to a 2021 study titled ‘Firework-related Ocular Injuries During Festival Season: A Hospital-based Study in a Tertiary Eye Care Center of Nepal’ by Tejsu Malla and Sabin Sahu, firework-related ocular injuries are an important cause of ocular injuries and are common during Tihar and Chaath festivals.

The study was conducted over 

57 patients at Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital in Lahan, Siraha. Among the patients, 82.5 per cent were children. 

The study showed that 32 out of 57 patients sustained eye injury due to firecrackers.

Officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs requested the public to not seek firecrackers during Tihar and to inform the authorities if anyone was found selling or using firecrackers. 

As per the officials, the restriction of firecrackers mitigates risks of fire incidents, injuries to children and effect on environment.