Mumbai: Mumbai Police have registered 27 FIRs over the alleged illegal sale, storage, display and transport of firecrackers in public places during the Diwali period, with the action spread across the city between 4 and 9 November.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Akbar Pathan said the prohibitory order issued by the Mumbai Police commissioner took effect on 3 November and will remain in force till 2 December. Under it, the sale, storage and public display of firecrackers without a licence from the authorised authority is prohibited. The stated purpose is to prevent obstruction, inconvenience, danger and damage to the public.
Two of the cases show how the enforcement has worked at street level. The Dadar police registered an FIR against Santosh Gupta on Sunday for allegedly running an unauthorised firecracker stall at a crowded public place in Worli Koliwada. The Jogeshwari police registered an FIR against Rupesh Khanna, 35, for allegedly selling firecrackers without permission on a footpath near Hindustan Hotel on Station Road.
A second set of cases sits alongside the licensing drive. Police stations across the city filed over 29 FIRs against more than 40 people between 5 and 10 November for allegedly violating a September Bombay High Court order that imposed a year-round ban on bursting explosive firecrackers and launching rockets on public roads, streets, lanes and footpaths across Maharashtra. Notices were served on those named.
The fire data explains the pressure. Firecrackers were linked to around 200 of Mumbai's 282 fire incidents during Diwali, up sharply from 80 such incidents in 2024 and 113 in 2025. Across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, around 390 cracker-related fires were reported, including 70 in Kalyan-Dombivli and 62 in Navi Mumbai. Fires were reported in residential buildings, chawls, godowns and at least one under-construction site.
The Mumbai Disaster Management Authority had separately banned rockets and aerial firecrackers in the city until 25 November, covering rooftops, balconies, residential buildings and slum pockets.
The prohibitory order runs three more weeks. Enforcement data for the second half of the month has not been released.