Getting licences tough, slash profits, say manufacturers
Police personnel and villagers clear debris to look for survivors after an explosion at a fireworks manufacturing unit at Vakatippa village in U. Kothapalli mandal in East Godavari district on Monday. (Photo: DC/File)
Rajahmundry: East Godavari has the dubious distinction of having several unauthorised firecracker manufacturing units, especially in rural areas, and the manufacturers run them as cottage industries by engaging labourers and paying them daily wages to make quick money during festivals like Diwali.
The manufacturers obtain raw materials like gunpowder, chemicals etc. in bulk quantities, illegally, mainly from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. They set up manufacturing units, usually at isolated places in rural areas to avoid detection, while some even set them up in residential areas.
In Rajahmundry alone, a series of fire mishaps have occurred involving unauthorised firecracker manufacturing units in the last few years, claiming several lives.
In a mishap at Morampudi Centre on NH-16, three persons were killed in 2006. Two persons were killed in 2007 at Devi Chowk centre, a highly populated area. Similarly, a mishap took place at Bommuru village in 2010, claiming one life.
These manufacturers, do not possess any valid licences and try to cash in on the craze for firecrackers. The Bommuru country bomb, for example, is famous for its high decibel sound. The local flowerpots and rockets, known as “Juvvalu”, are also much in demand.
They are made without complying with any safety norms. The manufacturers bribe local officials and police personnel to allow them to make the fireworks illegally and their activities come to light only when mishaps occur.
They engage labourers, mainly women and at times even children, by paying lower wages than men and making them work for longer.
A local firecracker manufacturer who does not have a licence, said, “It is not so easy to obtain licences from the authorities as we have to show the requisite infrastructure, compliance with fire safety norms, details of labourers and source of raw materials. If we do so, we get nothing to save.
Moreover, we manufacture firecrackers a few days before Diwali just to make some good money. We take all precautions while making them, but at times we are helpless.”
Meanwhile, the district administration confines its role to issuing temporary licences for retail sale of fireworks. Though officials and the police claim they are carrying out inspections in all the villages, so far, not a single illegal unit has been traced.
Two stories behind unit explosion:
Some reports said Appa Rao, had been running the unit for 20 years. He had applied for renewal of his licence but revenue officials had not given permission yet.
One version says a woman lit a stove to prepare tea and this was followed by a blast. Another version says a lit cigarette was thrown, triggering the explosion. Police said a case had been booked against the owner.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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