“We have issued directives to the police and administration to tackle the issue seriously and it is coming under control. The offenders could face maximum penalty under the Public Offense Act,” said the spokesperson at the Home Ministry, Jaya Mukunda Khanal.
But the capital is witnessing extensive use of firecrackers since the onset of Dashain. Chief of the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu Navaraj Silwal also claimed that the police have greatly controlled the entry and sale of firecrackers in the Valley this year.
“They may be using old stock from the past year,” Special Superintendent of Police Silwal reasoned when asked why the instances of explosions have not gone down.
Silwal said police have already seized around 2,000 kgs of firecrackers this season. “We have only been able to seize abandoned firecrackers and have made arrested only a few suppliers and sellers,” Silwal said adding that no arrests were made last year. He also admitted that police have not arrested any users of firecrackers so far because according to him the focus is to check the supply of firecrackers.
Silwal said the police are undecided about what to do with the large quantity of seized firecrackers.
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