Short on Sound and Light, High on Confusion

The brouhaha over ‘green’ crackers will see the fireworks industry running up a loss of ₹800 cr.-1,000 cr. this year. And, if that isn’t bad enough, the confusion over the rules has led to a virtual split, with a bunch of manufacturers in Sivakasi conforming to NEERI specifications for making crackers and another putting up resistance

- S. Sundar, Sangeetha Kandavel

The sky on the night of October 27 may not be the usual riot of colours and noise levels in the neighbourhood may be lower than normal. The dilemma over green crackers seems to have robbed, if not Deepavali, then the fireworks industry in Sivakasi of its sheen. Confusion over the transition to green crackers in the town, which is the hub of the fireworks industry, has resulted in delayed production and reluctant distribution of crackers.

Currently, the fireworks industry in India is pegged at ₹1,800 crore per annum. The business done by illegal units is estimated at ₹2,000 crore. Nearly 20 lakh people across the country earn their livelihood by engaging themselves in transporting, storing, distributing and selling fireworks on a permanent basis. Another 80 lakh people are involved in selling fireworks through temporary licences (for 30 days) during the Deepavali season.

The story dates back to 2015 when three children from New Delhi knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court complaining about air pollution during Deepavali. Initially, the apex court did not ban crackers. But, when it did, it was not only in New Delhi, but in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) for Deepavali 2018.

Crippling blow

Subsequently, the Supreme Court withdrew its ban, but dropped a bomb on the fireworks industry when it banned barium nitrate, an important raw material, and also crackers that are joined together, a substantial part of the business. “This order has crippled the industry as it cannot make almost 80% of its regular products,” say Sivakasi manufacturers who closed their units for over 100 days from November 2018, appealing to the Union and State governments to save them.