‘Consumers not happy with SC’s restraining order on firecrackers’: President of TN fireworks traders’ body claims

Although the Supreme Court order came in the form of directions to the Rajasthan government, the apex court clarified that the order is for the entire country. The court reiterated its October 2018 order which banned the production and sale of all crackers, except the green ones and those with reduced emissions.

Chandrasekaran also said, “Only a handful of units who are working in other districts are not aware of the rules and restrictions. The 125-decibel limit has been in practice for over 10 years. However, we have a few difficulties with respect to the restrictions in the chemicals that can be used in the manufacture of the firecrackers.”

Chandrasekaran added, “There is resentment among the public for not being able to purchase certain firecrackers that used to be sold earlier and many have told me that they do not get the satisfaction they used to get prior to the restrictions.”

“The government has banned about 10-12 chemicals out of which close to eight-nine items like mercury and arsenic were never used here. Now, with the court restrictions, we are manufacturing crackers with permissible chemicals,” he said.

Commenting on the fire accidents that frequently occur in the state, and what kind of measures they have taken as an association, Chandrasekaran said most of these accidents take place in the illegal units that are run without valid licenses. “We have been continuously sensitising the traders and shop owners over the safety measures they need to follow,” Chandrasekaran said.

“There are certain conditions with which a license is issued to firecracker units and due to certain incidents in the recent past in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the government has been very strict and have revoked the licenses of some units. This has also led to a drop in the production. There were about 10,000 licensed shops last year and this year, it has been reduced to close to 6,000 shops,” he added.

It is to be noted that there are timing restrictions on bursting of crackers in the state on Diwali. The Greater Chennai Police (GCP) have issued an advisory wherein they have noted only green crackers made of permitted chemicals that are environmentally friendly alone would be permitted to be sold and used.

Further, following the Supreme Court order, residents have been allowed to burst crackers only for two hours between 6 am and 7 am and between 7 pm and 8 pm on Sunday, November 12.