Mumbai Police bans flying lanterns till 14 November over fire safety concerns during Diwali

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Monday banned the use of flying lanterns during Diwali festival to avoid any untoward incident. The ban came into effect from Monday and will remain in force till 14 November, a police official said. Around three years back, the usage of such lanterns with firecrackers had caused incidents of fire in a couple of highrise buildings in the city, he said. A flying or sky lantern is a small hot air balloon made of paper, with an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. According to the official, the lanterns are being banned to prevent any danger to the human life and taking into consideration the safety of the common people. The ban orders were issued by DCP (Operations) Deepak Deoraj. Any person found violating the ban will be booked under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC.