Thrissur: The district administration has laid down stringent norms for the fireworks to be conducted for the Pavaratty church festival which will be held on May 6 and 7. No high-decibel and unauthorised firework items such as gundu, amittu and dynamite could be used for the fest. “Permission for the firework using 15 kg of gun powder will be given only after the police, fire force and tahsildar concerned submitted their report on the safety aspects of the firework,” additional district magistrate C.K. Ananthakrishnan told DC. “Even then, only palm leaf cracker and authorised Chinese crackers can be used as per the PESO guidelines.”
There were similar conditions in the temple fests at Uthrallikkavu and Nenmara Vela in Palakkad this year. He said that a meeting held at the collectorate on Friday discussed the preparations for the fest, law-and-order situation and the facilities to be provided for the devotees. Murali Perunelli, MLA, was also present along with the church officials requesting the district administration to give permission for fireworks keeping in place all safety norms. After the Puttingal firework tragedy last year at Kollam, the Union government has given guidelines to the state government to strictly follow the PESO rules without fail with the result that the intensity of the traditional fireworks came down considerably in all the major festivals in central Kerala this year.
