nagpur the nagpur municipal corporation nmc and police department have refused to grant permission to firecracker shopskiosks at 18 main market places in the city to prevent the spread of covid19 and fire incidents the number of shops has come down to 582 this year from 752 in 2019 probably due to the impact of the pandemicnmc chief fire officer rajendra uchake told toi police department has identified 18 market places and released the list accordingly fire and emergency services department has not given noc for firecracker shopskiosks at these locations he saidthe market places where the prohibition has been imposed are sitabuldi main road mahal chowk to gandhigate chowk mahal chowk to bhonsale wada mahal chowk to badkas chowk kalyaneshwar mandir area golibar chowk to timki teen nal chowk to shaheed chowk tanga stand to teen nal chowk hansapuri to naalsahab chowk maskasath chowk to nehru putla marwadi chowk areas around mayo hospital daga hospital gmch indora chowk to kamal talkies chowk gokulpeth bazaar and residency road at sadaruchake added firecracker shopskiosks will also not be permitted in areas and roads which witness congestion or crowdthe number of shops getting permission was 777 in 2018 865 in 2017 982 in 2016 951 in 2015 and 889 in 2014in the nocs the nmcs fire and emergency services department has also placed various conditions considering covid19 guidelines of the central and state governments all employees in the shops will have to wear masks compulsorily and ensure all customers are wearing itthere should be no rush at any shop at any given time the shopskiosks should not have any objections from people residing in the respective areasalmost all the market places are crowded especially during evening hours many shopkeepers are not following standard operating procedures issued by the government to prevent the spread of covid19 also some people can be seen without masks and spitting in public places