GHAZIABAD: Close to 300 fireworks factories and godowns are located in Farukh Nagar, out of which 80 have been issued licences. The others are operating without any permit."Irrespective of the legal status of the factories present here, none of them can sell to retailers or produce firecrackers after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on such factories in November 2016. So, it doesn't matter how many are with or without licences because even the licence holders have been prohibited from using their permits for any kind of sale or production of crackers," said an official.As per official data, at least one case of fire tragedy is reported from Farukh Nagar area every year, which is triggered either by short-circuit, a matchstick or through a cigarette. The last one was in November 2016 in which a fireworks factory had caught fire after a short-circuit and two of the workers lost their lives. Despite such high frequency of incidents, the administration has been unable to keep a check on illegally operating factories so far.Speaking to TOI, Anoop Singh, circle officer, Sahibabad, said: There are two types of factories. The ones which have stopped any production post Supreme Court's ban and are now only left with the remaining stock of the firecrackers and the other ones that are secretly still carrying out the production. But it's difficult to say who all are doing what without a detailed investigation.

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