Use of fireworks is restricted on Chinese New Year. (Photo : Reuters)
Around 70,000 local volunteers will help the Shanghai police and firefighters to make sure that the fireworks ban would be adhered to so that the city will stay safe during the Chinese New Year.
Volunteers are tasked to promote safety awareness among people on the detrimental effects of using fireworks as well as to spot people who would violate the ban on fireworks.
They will also be dissuading people from lighting fireworks, particularly in the areas and places included in the ban list. Part of their duties is to hand out informational leaflets and put out posters on the fireworks ban as well as on the proper and safe method of lighting fireworks.
Volunteers are also tasked to remind residents that inflammable materials from their balconies should be removed on the celebratory day and that their windows should be closed so that fire hazards can be avoided.
Because there are some areas that citizens can still play with their fireworks and are not part of the ban list, volunteers will help authorities to designate safety zones on these areas.
Local authorities are determined to keep the city safe during the holidays, especially from firework-related accidents and injuries. The city recently added four more roads and places where citizens cannot play with fireworks: Puming Road, East Changzhi Road, Pudong Avenue and Yangshupu Road in the Inner Ring. There are now 15 roads and 20 places that are off-limits for fireworks.
Apart from keeping the people safe from health hazards related to the use of fireworks, the ban is also a response to the many environmental concerns that using fireworks pose, such as heavy pollution. Even though fireworks are traditionally lit for good luck, authorities want the citizens to be mindful of the dangers they pose.
Another preventive measure that the local authorities put up was to limit the number of vendors that can sell fireworks. The Shanghai Fire Control Bureau had only authorized 700 vendors to sell fireworks. The number of fireworks that can be sold had been limited as well, only 150,000 boxes. In addition, vendors now could only sell firecrackers for two weeks.
