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​Under fire: on Tamil Nadu and the fireworks industry blasts Politics & News

​Under fire: on Tamil Nadu and the fireworks industry blasts   Politics & News

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An accident is, by definition, both unexpected and preventable. But the numerous fireworks industry blasts that dot the summer months with stunning regularity in the firecracker manufacturing belt of Tamil Nadu in Virudhunagar challenge this definition. A total of 26 people have died and 20 others injured in eight accidents that have occurred in the first six months of 2025. According to official data, 17 accidents were reported in fireworks units in the State in 2024 and claimed the lives of 52 people. Of these, 42 people died in 12 accidents in Virudhunagar, which has roughly 1,000 fireworks units and 3,000 cracker shops. In 2023, 79 workers were killed in 27 accidents in the State, including 28 workers in 15 accidents in Virudhunagar. In the latest episode, eight persons died and five others were injured in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Sattur, near Sivakasi this week. Preliminary reports said friction caused during the process of filling chemicals that are used to make special fireworks may have caused the explosion. Investigations are on to pinpoint the exact cause. But whatever the cause, there is unlikely to be any new learning from this kind of post mortem.

Temperatures in the rather dry, hot belt of Virudhunagar often soar unbearably during the day. It is also common knowledge that firecracker units store chemicals that are highly inflammable, and can ignite and burn easily when exposed to an ignition source such as a spark, flame, or high heat. And yet, unerringly, the summer months, usually, have unfortunate accidents resulting in the death or the disability of people who are already vulnerable, socially and economically. While the laxity of manufacturers is condemnable, there is also a big role for the state in regulating these fireworks units, since all of them require a licence from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization to function. The Explosives Rules, 2008, which govern fireworks units, specify that packages containing explosives shall not be allowed to remain in the sun or exposed to excessive heat, and all due precautions ought to be taken to prevent accidents by fire or explosion. Following the rules is essential to retaining the licence to operate and manufacture explosives. Clearly, here is a situation where the heft of the state can be utilised to ensure compliance, but a better way of handling it is to involve manufacturers in an effort to ensure there are no further accidents, no further lives lost as a result. Such cooperation has produced results in the past in curbing the employment of child labourers in the industry. It will now have to be leveraged to save precious lives. A preventable tragedy that repeats itself makes a farce of state regulation and enforcement.

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​Under fire: on Tamil Nadu and the fireworks industry blasts

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