The district administration has begun demarcating open spaces for firecracker stalls to dissuade vendors from selling their inflammable wares in densely populated areas of the city.

Till Sunday, a plot near Jharkhand Tribal Welfare Research Institute in Morabadi had been designated for cracker sale and collectorate officials are busy hunting for more in the run-up to Diwali next month. “In all likelihood two more places will be demarcated — Harmu grounds and Shaheed Maidan in Dhurwa,” an official said.

ADM (law and order) Akhilesh Kumar Sinha said they had had a meeting with vendors in this regard three days ago. “The vendors were told that cracker sale in open spaces would help ensure a safer Diwali. The next meeting is on Tuesday, during which we shall demarcate more open spaces for temporary licence holders,” he said.

Asked how they were identifying the plots, Sinha said access was most important. “We are checking if the place chosen can be easily accessed by fire tenders in case of an emergency. Also, we are seeing if crowd control is possible.”

The ADM said till date, 600 vendors had applied for provisional permits to sell firecrackers in the capital. “The number is expected to swell,” he added.

There are four cracker wholesalers in Ranchi that are registered and boast permanent licences. But, there are at least 16 shops in Upper Bazaar that do business every year without a valid permit.

Sinha claimed that all these shops were sealed following orders of then SDO Bhor Singh Yadav in April last year. “The owners had knocked on the door of then deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar and Jharkhand High Court, but did not get any relief. The court upheld the directive of the district administration,” he said.