THANE: Thane district collector Dr Shrikrishna Panchal has banned the use of rockets and similar aerial firecrackers across the district after 11 fire incidents were reported on Diwali night. The order, issued on Monday, is in force from 12.01 am on November 9, 2026, to 11.59 pm on January 8, 2027.
Panchal issued the prohibitory order as chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority, under Sections 26(2), 30 and 34(m) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Where the ban applies
The ban covers public and private places, building terraces, balconies, premises and all residential areas across Thane district.
Police, local bodies and fire departments have been told to enforce the order and publicise it widely, and housing societies have been asked to inform their members. The use of other firecrackers will continue to be governed by existing laws, orders of competent authorities and court directions.
Anyone who refuses to comply will face action under Sections 51 and 60 of the Disaster Management Act.
Why the order was issued
According to the order, reports from the Thane Municipal Corporation’s chief fire officer and the district disaster management cell show fires at 11 different places in the district, causing heavy damage to public and private property and putting lives at risk.
The order notes that some people were firing rockets while holding them in their hands, and that burning remains of rockets falling on residential buildings and flammable material pose an immediate risk of fire. Rockets were also being fired in large numbers from residential areas, densely populated localities, refuge areas, parking lots and terraces of buildings, it says.
50 rescued from Raheja Garden tower
The biggest of the Diwali night fires broke out at around 8.30 pm on Sunday in a flat on the 8th floor of a 17-storey building in the Raheja Garden complex in Thane. The fire soon spread up to the 14th floor.
Thane fire brigade and the TMC’s Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) reached the spot and brought the fire under control after several hours. Smoke made the lifts unusable, so residents were asked to wait in the building’s refuge area and on the terrace. All 50 trapped residents, along with their pet dogs and cats, were brought out safely by ladder and stretcher late at night. No one was injured.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, MP Naresh Mhaske and MLA Ravindra Phatak reached the site and spoke to the trapped residents. Shinde told the media that the fire brigade used drones to find the floors where residents were stuck.
The administration is probing whether the fire was caused by a firecracker or a short circuit.
Fires across the region
In Navi Mumbai, a firecracker spark caused a fire on the sixth floor of Mauli Society in Seawoods, and the fire brigade moved residents out safely, Saam TV reported.
Mumbai recorded 89 fire incidents over two days of Diwali, 28 of them attributed to firecrackers, and a security guard died in a blaze in Andheri, according to the Free Press Journal.