Phailin, floods and torrential rains have hit the firecracker manufacturing units here too. The adverse weather has forced the fire cracker manufacture units to wind up operation and sit idle.
As the Diwali is just a week away, these units should have been highly busy. But, the bad weather coupled with incessant rains has played the spoilsports. The cracker manufacturers need enough sunny days to dry up their materials.
“Nature has played a cruel joke. We have failed to collect palm leaves for manufacturing crackers this time. Every year, we used to collect palm leaf before a month and later dry them up in sun. To manufacture the crackers, the explosive materials besides the palm leaf have to be dried up. But rain has been continuing since October 10. Phailin and subsequent floods and rains have created a very unsuitable atmosphere for the cracker units in Pattamundai, Aul and Rajkanika area as Brhamani and Baitarani river systems have flooded the locality,” said Abhiram Mallick, a cracker maker.
Most of the fire cracker makers generally prepare fire crackers in their houses by taking materials from the manufacturing units during the Diwali. But as the flood water has entered into the locality and their mud thatched houses are wet, so they have not started fire crackers in their houses, said Pagal Das another cracker maker.
“Those manufacturers who have pucca house and store room, are busy in preparing the crackers. I am lucky in this regard. I have started manufacturing fire crackers more than two months back as I got consignment earlier. As I have a long pucca store room, so I do not find it too difficult to prepare fire crackers,” said Nari Pani, who owns a cracker manufacturing unit at Indupur area.
The Diya makers are also hit by the adverse weather. Though they have prepared Diyas but they are yet to put it in a kiln where the heat hardens them. If the rain continues for more than four to five days, then it would be a difficult task for the potters to provide consignment to the middlemen and to the fire cracker vendors to sell it, said Kalandi Behera, a potter of Kumbharsahi.