The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has sealed 30 firecracker shops operating along the stretch from Kalupur Darwaza to Kalupur Tower in the Old City, citing safety concerns ahead of Diwali. The civic body has given the shopkeepers three days to produce building use permissions or proof of impact fee payments.
The action was carried out by the estate department of the AMC’s Central Zone on Wednesday as part of intensified safety checks before the festival. The affected shops were described as illegal outlets in the report, and the municipal authorities warned that any attempt to break the official seals would result in police complaints and legal action.
The enforcement drive follows a wider safety operation launched across Ahmedabad after a factory fire in Ramol on July 18 killed 10 people. The incident prompted multiple government agencies to inspect commercial and industrial premises and take action against establishments operating without the required permissions.
The Kalupur sealing operation also marks a renewed enforcement step against shops that had previously been allowed to reopen temporarily. According to the report, the civic body’s standing committee had unsealed the outlets in August after shopkeepers submitted indemnity bonds. The latest action indicates that the temporary arrangement did not replace the requirement to establish compliance through building use permissions or impact fee documentation.
The shops are located on a busy stretch of the Old City between Kalupur Darwaza and Kalupur Tower, an area where the concentration of commercial activity increases the public-safety implications of storing and selling firecrackers. The municipal action comes shortly before Diwali, when demand for fireworks typically rises and fire-safety risks become a major concern for crowded urban markets.
The three-day deadline gives the shopkeepers a limited period to submit the documents sought by the AMC. Building use permission establishes that a premises is authorised for occupation and use, while impact fee payment records may be relevant to the regularisation or compliance status of a property. The report did not specify how many shopkeepers had already submitted documents or what further action would follow if the deadline expired without compliance.
The AMC’s warning regarding sealed premises places responsibility on the shopkeepers not to interfere with the enforcement action. Any breach of the seals, the civic body said, would lead to direct police complaints and legal proceedings. The next step will depend on whether the affected operators can produce the required building use permissions or impact fee payment proofs within three days.
