The City of Prague adopted a decree banning the use of most types of pyrotechnic items, such as fireworks and rockets, in the majority of the city centre and other public spaces.
As no exception was made for New Year’s Eve, the Czech capital decided to remind its residents and visitors of the places where they are not allowed to set off such items and what could the consequences be in the case of non-compliance.
According to the new rules, as of this December, it is forbidden to use pyrotechnic items:
- in a monument reserve;
- on watercourses, islands in such watercourses and on land adjacent to the watercourse bed, within a width of up to 50 meters from the shoreline;
- within 250 meters of in-patient facilities, homes for the elderly or homes for the disabled;
- on dams, dikes, weirs and reservoirs and within 50 meters of them;
- in specially protected areas and within a distance of 50 meters from such areas;
- in nature parks and within 50 meters of such;
- within a distance of 250 meters from the premises of the Zoological Garden, animal shelters and veterinary emergency facilities.
To help its citizens and tourists respect the restrictions, the capital has placed signs in parks and on embankments and prepared an interactive map of the abovementioned places.
Furthermore, on the entire territory of the city, it is forbidden to use products with heated air or hot gases from an airborne flame generator. Examples include flying lanterns, flying wishes, etc.
The police will be strictly following that rules are adhered to and will be issuing administrative penalties in case of non-compliance. These can go as high as CZK 100 000.
“The decree regulating the use of pyrotechnics in the metropolis was adopted in order to increase the safety of the citizens and reduce the noise that can cause the death or injury of many animals every year,” said the City of Prague.
