Thane’s firecracker ban has come under fresh scrutiny after a video appearing to show BJP Thane Municipal Corporation corporator Amit Saraiya holding and bursting an aerial firecracker circulated on social media. Saraiya has said the video was recorded before the restriction came into force.
Thane district collector Dr Shrikrishna Panchal imposed a ban on bursting rockets and other firecrackers that explode in the air after a major fire at the Carline building in the Raheja Garden complex in Wagle Estate on Sunday night. The order was issued to prevent a recurrence of fire incidents, according to the report.
The video was circulated on social media on Saturday night and shows Saraiya bursting an aerial firecracker while accompanied by his wife. The circulation of the video prompted questions because the district-wide restriction had already been announced by the time it gained wider attention.
Saraiya represents ward number 15 in the Thane Municipal Corporation’s Wagle Estate division after being elected on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. He lives in a housing complex in Vartak Nagar. The incident has therefore drawn attention not only to the alleged use of a restricted firecracker but also to the responsibility of elected representatives during the enforcement of a public-safety order.
In a statement reported by Loksatta, Saraiya said the video was recorded before the collector’s order took effect. He said it had been made while celebrating Diwali with his wife and son and was being circulated only now. Saraiya also said that police had taken custody of CCTV footage from his housing complex in connection with the matter.
The district restriction followed the Wagle Estate fire, which raised immediate concerns about the risk posed by airborne fireworks in densely built residential areas. Such locations combine multi-storey buildings, closely spaced housing structures and shared access areas, making fire-prevention orders dependent on both public compliance and local enforcement.
The report also said that residents in several parts of Thane continued to violate the order despite the restriction. The available account does not specify the duration of the ban, the exact provisions of the collector’s order, or whether any case has been registered against Saraiya. It also does not independently establish when the video was recorded.
The immediate issue is therefore the timing of the footage and the applicability of the collector’s order when the firecracker was allegedly burst. Saraiya’s explanation and the CCTV footage mentioned by him are central to determining whether the incident occurred before or after the restriction came into force. Police and district authorities’ next steps will establish how the matter is treated under the order.
