Even as reports are pouring in about Chinese soldiers making frequent intrusions into deep Indian territories, Chinese-manufactured Saturn Missiles and other firecrackers — aided by the apathy of the Government officials — have broken the backbone of Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi, the fireworks capital of the country.
The `2,500 crore fireworks industry — which employs five lakh people in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu — is facing the worst-ever crisis in its 250-year-old history due to the Chinese aggression as well as the ‘mysterious haste’ by the United Progressive Alliance Government led by Manmohan Singh to hike various licence fees from 450 to 3,000 per cent.Nearly 800 firework units in Virudhunagar district were shut down from April 5 for a fortnight by the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association, the umbrella organisation of the owners of these units, to protest against the unprecedented hike in various licence and inspection fees by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
“The fee for a foreman certificate has been hiked from `100 to `3,000/-. The annual license fee for a factory with a capacity to manufacture 3,000 kg has been increased from `15,000 per year to `66,000 per year, an increase of 450 per cent,” said K Mariappan, vice president, TANFAMA. For every 2 lakh kg of finished products, the manufacturer has to give a licence fee `400,000, which is a hike of 2,700 per cent, according to Mariappan.
He said the DIPP has issued the revised fee structures order on March 20, 2014 violating the Model Code of Conduct. The manufacturers were neither taken into confidence nor where they consulted on these issues, said the TANFAMA office bearers. Aasai Thampi, general secretary, pointed out that the unprecedented hikes come at a time when the Indian fireworks industry (out of which Sivakasi alone accounts for 90 per cent of the production) is reeling under massive smuggling of hazardous Chinese firecrackers into the country.
“last year more than 500 containers of Chinese firecrackers were smuggled into India. A Union Minister from Tamil Nadu told us that there are no facilities in Indian ports to check or control the smuggling of firecrackers into the country,” said Aasai Thampi.Thampi pointed out that Chinese manufacturers use potash and perchlorates in their fireworks while the same is banned in India by law.
Crackers containing Potash and perchlorates emit 90 per cent more carbon di oxide and their noice level too are far above the levels stipulated in India. Mariappan and Thampi said that the UPA Government hiked the licence fee and amended the laws dealing with import of firecrackers to help someone who wields big influence in the Government.Referring to frequent accidents occurring in firework units, the TANFAMA leaders said massive corruption and official lethargy led to such accidents.“From Tiruchirappalli to Kanyakumari, there are 6,800 licenced premises but there are only three officers. We have been requesting the Union Government to appoint at least 30 officers for effective monitoring but there has been no response from them,’ said Mariappan.
TS Kathiresan, secretary TANFAMA, said the absence of transparency in the functioning of the Chief Controller of Explosives is the main reason for all ills plaguing the industry. “The guidelines stipulated by the ministry for the safe functioning of firework units too are not practical,” he said.Sivakasi was once the printing capital of the country. Most of the calendars, diaries, note books were printed in Sivakasi’s hi-tech presses. Not any more. It is the firework units which sustain the economy of this drought stricken region as well as the printing presses. “If nothing is done to save Sivakasi, we ourselves stand the possibility of being vanished from the face of the earth,” said Kathiresan.
