70,000 volunteers to help police enforce restrictions on fireworks
Print Edition
SOME 70,000 local volunteers will assist Shanghai police and firefighters to enforce bans on fireworks and keep the city safe during the Chinese New Year.
Local authorities also added four more roads and places into its ban list for fireworks, raising the number of roads which are off limits for fireworks to 15 and places up to 20.
Fireworks are usually banned within the Inner Ring road in the city over safety and environmental concern.
The city sky is lit up by fireworks on the Chinese New Year’s Eve, the fourth night of the new year and the Lantern Festival which falls on the 15th night and generally marks the end of the New Year celebration. It has been a tradition dating back hundreds of years but the government has been trying to dampen the enthusiasm as it tries to fight pollution and also safety concerns.
Puming Road, East Changzhi Road, Pudong Avenue and Yangshupu Road in the Inner Ring have been added in the list where fireworks are banned from the Chinese New Year’s Eve on February 18 to the fourth day of the New Year on February 22. Fireworks have also been banned between 6pm on March 5 and 8am the next day.
The ban will also be enforced on 11 other roads including East and West Nanjing roads and Middle Huaihai Road.
The National Exhibition and Convention Center in Jiading District, Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone in Pudong New Area, Qiantan, located in south of the Shanghai Expo site in Pudong, and the Riverside Park area in Xuhui District, are also on the list.
Airports, railway stations, People’s Square and Lujiazui financial district are also on the banned list.
Fireworks that soar higher than 60 meters are already banned around the city’s two international airports — Pudong and Hongqiao.
Fire control authorities have urged the public to abide by the regulations to avoid any disasters. “It is difficult to catch violators before they set off fireworks as we constrained by our staff strength who can monitor the city of our size,” said an official from the Fire Control Bureau.
Volunteers have been roped in this year to promote safety awareness among people and spot violations. They will try and dissuade people from lighting fireworks, especially in banned areas and places.
They will also hand out leaflets and put out posters on this year’s regulations on fireworks or the correct and safe method to light fireworks.
Part of their job will be to ensure and tell residents to remove inflammable materials from their balconies and close their windows to protect from fire. They will also help authorities to designate safety zones in communities or villages in areas that are not on the banned list. Volunteers will also report to police if they find unauthorized stalls selling fireworks illegally.
This year, Shanghai Fire Control Bureau has issued only 700 certificates to vendors who sell fireworks while the number of fireworks for sale is 150,000 boxes — both of them half from last year.
Vendors will only get two-week permits for selling firecrackers. Previously, vendors in suburban areas could sell fireworks all year round.
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