Alarmed at growing incidents of fire in the state due to searing heat condition, Bihar government has advised the people not to light fires between 9 am and 6 pm, finish cooking and hold 'havan' and puja before 9 am in the morning.
The advisory, issued by Vyasji, principal secretary to the disaster management department late on Monday, said any violation could attract a maximum jail term of two years under Disaster Management Law, 2005.
It was issued on the direction of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who while conducting a high level review meeting on Monday had emphasised on the need for the advisory to check incidents of fire in the state.
Vyasji told PTI today that the advisory was issued to effectively check incidents of fire in the state which have taken a heavy toll in terms of life and property in recent days marked by the soaring mercury.
Minister of Disaster Management Chandra Sekhar told PTI that the advisory is in tune with the suggestions of the national disaster management authority to deal with raging incident of fire.
"It is an effective precautionary measure to check fire incidents," the minister said and refuted the opposition charge that the advisory was 'harsh' for its provision of jail term.
Earlier, RJD President Lalu Prasad too had expressed his worry over fire incidents and urged people not to cook in the day time which could ignite fire and spread fast due to strong hot winds blowing across the state.
