No festive occasion or major celebration is complete without the sound and colours of fireworks across countries worldwide and India is no exception. However, the cause for concern is the recurrence of firecracker-related mishaps in India on a regular basis which brings to the fore the scant regard for safety measures both at manufacturing units as well as storage facilities. 

That as many as 47 precious lives were lost and another 22 injured in about 5 separate fire accidents, arising out of utter negligence at firecracker manufacturing units and storage godowns during the period October 3 to 17 this year is too poignant and shocking for words. A majority of the fatal fire accidents have been incurring in and around Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi which is also known as the Fireworks Capital of India where 1,085 of licensed fireworks manufacturing units out of 1,482 units in the State operate. It is said that the relatively dry climate and lack of rainfall make the region ambient for fireworks and match industries to thrive. But owning to lack of opportunities in other occupations in the region, mostly people in and around Sivakasi seem to toiling as unskilled workers in the fireworks units on contractual basis.

Units manufacturing fireworks are codified as “a dangerous operation” under Section 87 of the Factories Act, 1948 and State Governments have also listed them as a dangerous operation under their respective Factories Rules. The Explosives Act 1884, regulates the manufacture, possession, use, sale, transport, import and export of firecrackers (fireworks) which are classified as Class 7 explosives. Illegal manufacturing of firecrackers is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both. Fireworks, defined as a low hazard explosive comprising of any composition or device manufactured with a view to produce coloured fire or flame, light effect, sound effect, smoke effect (coloured or natural), or combination of such effect are subject to the Explosives Rules, 2008 which is quite comprehensive. 

Let’s rewind for a moment. On 5 September 2012, a devastating explosion followed by a series of blasts at rapid intervals in a fireworks factory at Mudalipatti near Sivakasi (where some 150 workers were believed to be working) left some 54 people dead besides leaving 78 others injured with severe burns. Ten fire-fighting units battled for hours to douse the flames. The unit’s main structure fully collapsed, several adjacent sheds were flattened and other work sheds considerably damaged. The noise arising thereof was so loud that it could be heard by people a kilometre away.

The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India appointed a four-member Inquiry Committee headed by Mr Chaitanya Prasad, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, to determine (i) the immediate and proximate cause for the fire accident; (ii) the circumstances and sequence of events leading to the said accident; (iii) the statutory, administrative and procedural shortcomings, which led to the occurrence of this accident; and (iv) to suggest remedial measures to prevent reoccurrence of such incidents. 

The Committee, in its Report, reportedly observed the conspicuous absence of proper inspection mechanisms at various government departments and the authorities charged with the responsibility of regulating the industry worked in isolation. There was neither a common database of manufacturing units that could be accessed by all departments concerned, nor any coordination existed between the different Central and State government bodies that would increase the effectiveness of the system. None of the government authorities paid enough attention to the fireworks industry in the district. The Commission found that the competent authority to issue licence to fireworks industry and monitor them periodically, that is the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), did not have sufficient number of officers at Sivakasi to effectively inspect and monitor the fireworks industry. Recommending that sub-leasing of fireworks by licensed units should be made a cognisable penal offence, the Committee, among others, mandated compliance of inter-safety distances between sheds covered with earthen mounds as also provision of a smoothened pathway with a width of 1.5 metres, as part of industrial safety measures. 

Even with several recommendations that fire accidents seem to recur in fireworks is disconcerting. Take for instance the explosion at a firecracker unit in Tamil Nadu’s Ariyalur that killed 11 and left several injured on this October 10. The blast trapped several workers inside the sheds where raw materials and other manufactured firecrackers were stored. Initial investigations suspected that improper handling of chemicals by inexperienced workers might have triggered the explosion at the firecracker unit. 

In the aftermath of the accident, when checks and searches were carried out by the authorities in different parts of Ariyalur, it was found that five firecracker manufacturing units as well as 25 stockists with a permanent licence to sell their products violated the terms and conditions of licence. The five factories were in violation of the most fundamental safety norms and in the case of dealers, many were functioning in thickly populated areas, and some even in residential areas.

In the case of the Attibele firecracker tragedy on the outskirts of Bengaluru in Karnataka which resulted in the death of 17 persons, mostly in their late teens and twenties on October 7, a magisterial probe has been ordered. The accident occurred when a consignment of crackers procured from Tamil Nadu was being unloaded. The government has suspended the tahsildar, police inspector and the regional fire department officer who issued the no-objection certificate for the shop. What is disconcerting is that some of the deceased were either students or recent graduates who took to working at the firecracker outfit to earn money for their education or to support their financially struggling families. A few even came to work just temporarily, to make some money to celebrate Deepavali.

In 2021, as media reports indicate, a fact-finding team from a NGO that visited the Vembakottai fireworks unit in Virudhunagar were 11 people died and 22 were injured in an explosion found that that a very few fireworks units followed rules. In many units, the workers worked for about 9-10 hours daily and the contractor gave then Rs 200 per day. On Fridays and Saturdays, workload would increase to meet production targets. Though the unit was spread on an 18-acre plot, the approach road was bad, water in the unit was minimal - available only for washing hands and face. The factory was owned by a person and taken on lease by another. A third person engaged the workers. The workers were not insured, did not have ID cards, there was no log entry and it was also found that the contractor engaged child labour. Women workers said they came to work at 8.30 a.m. and left by 6 p.m with a 30-minute lunch break and the contractor paid Rs 200 for them and Rs 300 for men. 

As most of the fatal accidents in fireworks industry seem to be recurring mostly in filling and mixing sections, there checklist of norms to be followed for manufacturing, storage and sale of fireworks needs to be strictly enforced. Accident prevention requires purposeful, continuous action on everyone’s part. Both inside manufacturing units and outside, the workers handling firecrackers must understand the safety aspects and the supervisors should lead the effort in identifying possible hazards and correct them. 

Safety first means zero accidents. Most importantly, safety is non-negotiable.