The Opposition on Wednesday took on the state government for its "diktat", calling for legal action against those who cook food between 9am and 6pm.

Even the version of the disaster management minister, Chandrashekhar, who had said the directive was to "scare people", has not gone in good spirits among the people too.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and senior BJP leader Prem Kumar termed the decision "draconian".

"It is for the first time that we have come across a state government, which openly says that they want to scare the people. This is totally unacceptable and undemocratic. We have visited many places in Bihar ravaged by fire incidents. In most of the cases, we have seen that the state fire services and the department's claims about preparations have failed miserably. In case of the fire at Harinagar village in Aurangabad district, we saw four fire tenders but only one driver and even the pipes were leaking. How can a minister make such remarks?" Prem told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

The department's principal secretary, Vyasji, tried to reason.

"Practically, it is not possible for the department to go from one house to another to check. We just want to say to the people to be cautious. They should understand that one wrong step of theirs can cost their lives as well as others. We understand that marriages are taking place but one can curtail things and preparations so that others aren't affected. If a fire happens and in course of investigations it is found that the fire took place because of someone's fault, action will definitely be taken," he added.

People in different districts reacted sharply though. Dikeshwar Prasad Singh (56), a former army man and a resident of Tikarampur village under Mohali panchayat in Munger, said: "The government's advisory not to cook from 9am to 6pm even during the marriage ceremonies is not practical. The guests will be so offended if in case of a marriage ceremony I'm not serving food to them."

In Gaya district, Umesh Manjhi (35) of Manjhiawan village under Wazirganj block called it an arbitrary decision. "Everyone cannot finish cooking as per the order. If someone has gone outside the village from some work or to attend a function and returns home after the deadline for cooking is over, what will the family do?" he said.

Sahdeo Rai of Ratanpura Mohalla under Mufassil police station in Chhapra called it "playing with the sentiments" of people. "It is like playing with our respect. Now, how come a guest be entertained if he reaches at hours between this period? Will he have to go back without eating in case there is a marriage or any other ceremony going on?" Rai added.

Additional reporting by Alok Kumar, Sri Krishna Prasad Singh and Rakesh K. Singh