Andhra Pradesh overhauls fireworks safety: state nodal authority, safety cell in 30 days

The Andhra Pradesh government has rebuilt the way fireworks units are licensed, inspected and policed, putting a single authority in charge and making inspecting officers answerable for every certificate they sign. The new fireworks safety framework follows the explosions at fireworks units in Rayavaram and Vetlapalem, the latter in Kakinada district.

It was notified in a government order dated Saturday, 7 November 2026, issued by Chief Secretary G. Sai Prasad. The inquiry committees that examined the blasts had pointed to enforcement scattered across departments and to inspections that were not tied to the actual risk at a unit.

One authority at the top, Collectors in the districts

The Director-General of the State Disaster Response and Fire Services is now the State Nodal Authority. The DG will hold monthly inter-departmental reviews and send compliance reports to the Home Department. In each district the Collector is the nodal authority and reviews progress every quarter.

District Fireworks Safety Committees, chaired by Collectors, will bring together the police, fire services, revenue, factories, labour and pollution control departments. They must go over licensed units and emergency preparedness at least once a quarter.

A State Explosives and Fireworks Safety Cell is to be set up within 30 days. It will keep a digital register of all manufacturing units, draw up inspection schedules based on risk, develop a Fireworks Risk Index and work with the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

Two-stage licences, an online portal and personal liability

For LE-1(a) units, licensing now has two stages: a provisional approval, then a mandatory physical inspection once construction is complete. The inspection has to be backed by geo-tagged photographs and video.

The RTGS and Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department has six months to launch an integrated online portal. It will track licences, approved layouts, CCTV feeds and stock movements, and raise alerts on irregularities.

Unlicensed operations, unauthorised chemical formulations, excess stock, unapproved equipment and obstruction of inspections can now lead to immediate closure, seizure of materials and legal action.

Inspecting officers are personally accountable for their certifications. A negligent inspection, or hiding a violation, will be treated as serious professional misconduct and can bring disciplinary and legal action.

The order follows a run of Deepavali-season fires, among them a showroom blaze at Rajam in Vizianagaram district that the Chief Minister reviewed on Monday, 9 November. Counted from the date of the order, the Safety Cell’s 30 days run out on 7 December 2026 and the portal’s six months on 7 May 2027.