Doubts on Sivakasi cracker unit safety rise as 3 more die in latest mishap

Seven casualties in five days, several more injured; experts cry foul over flouting of rules

With as many as seven people losing their lives and many more getting injured in fireworks manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu in the last five days, experts are crying foul on the flouting of rules by the manufacturers and also illegal units spread across Sivakasi in Virudhanagar district.

On Wednesday, three people lost their lives in a firecracker unit accident, while three others were injured. This comes immediately after an accident claimed five lives and injured eight others at Pudupatti village near Sivakasi. . According to data shared by industry sources and the government, the last five years saw as many as 70-75 accidents in the district claiming around 40-50 lives.

The number of deaths were seen at one in 2017-18, two in 2018-19 and 17 in 2019-20 according to the micro small and medium enterprises ministry. The most severe of these fire incidents happened at Achankulam in 2020, when more than 16 people lost their lives.

According to industry players, Sivakasi which contributes to 90 per cent of the Rs 3,000 crore fireworks industry in India is also facing challenges related to multiple bodies regulating and licensing the sector, with some getting clearances from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and temporary players getting licenses from DRO (district revenue officers). The owner of the unit, who also lost his life in Wednesday's accident, had got a DRO license for manufacturing firecrackers in 14 rooms in his unit.

“A major issue that the industry is facing is the multiple licensing mechanism. While major players are getting licenses from PESO for manufacturing all the items, small players are getting it cleared from DRO. A lot of them are flouting the guidelines and are making other products as well. This is one major reason for the rise in accidents,” said T Kannan, general secretary, The Indian Fireworks Manufacturers Association (TIFMA). According to official data, the district has around 1,010 fireworks units, out of which 741 are licensed by the PESO and 269 by DRO.

“The district manufacturing units are not following any safety norms, employees are not properly trained to handle explosives and other chemicals. This lack of training is what is leading to a rise in the number of accidents in the last few years. They are also flouting environmental guidelines too,” said A Vijayakumar, project director, Human Resource Foundation (HRF), a non-governmental organization working in Sivakasi. He alleged that both PESO and the DRO are also running on a lean staff strength of less than ten officials to manage over 1,000 manufacturing units in the district.

According to the government, PESO is conducting regular inspection of fireworks factories licensed by them and if any serious violations are noticed, penal action as per the provisions of Explosives Rules, 2008 is taken. In addition to this, organizing training programmes, awareness campaigns on the use of green crackers are ongoing activities for prevention of such accidents. A separate Fire Works Welfare Board has also been set up to get compensation on accident and injuries from the Welfare Board.