The stringent controls imposed on pyrotechnic displays in the wake of the gruesome fireworks tragedy at the Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravur, Kollam on April 10 last in which over 100 persons had died are threatening to lessen the beauty and attractiveness of the annual festivals at hundreds of Hindu temples and Christian churches in Kerala.
According to festival committees, conducting pyrotechnic shows by adhering to the newly imposed controls is virtually impossible. “Now that the festival season has started, the Centre, which alone can do anything in this respect, should take our complaints seriously and make the rules simpler,” said Prabhakaran Nair, office-bearer of a temple festival committee in Thrissur.
More than 30 temples and several churches in Thrissur and Palakkad districts have already held their annual festivals without the usual fireworks displays due to non-clearance of their applications for permission by the authorities due to the instructions from the Central Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).
Administrative bodies of temples where this year’s festivals have already been held are complaining that the absence of fireworks displays had taken away the sheen off the events. “Almost 75 percent of the spectators at Poorams (temple festivals) are fireworks lovers. They simply did not turn up this time,” said Jaya Kumar, secretary of a Pooram committee.
At the statement-recording meetings held by a Central team in Palakkad and Thrissur, stakeholders had raised serious concerns about the future of the festivals in the context of the controls on fireworks as described in a circular issued by the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Ernakulam.
An official in the District Collectorate in Thrissur, who used to deal with the applications for permission for fireworks displays and elephant parades at the festivals in the district, said there was a fear that the matter might turn into an emotional issue as seen in Tamil Nadu in the case of the ban on Jallikattu.
“It is indeed an emotional issue. The two factors that make the Thrissur Pooram the most famous temple festival in Kerala are the procession of elephants and the fireworks displays by the two participating teams. It now seems that fireworks would not take place in this year’s Pooram. Complaints against parading elephants are also there,” the official said.
The circular has made stringent the existing rule that pyrotechnic shows cannot be held between 22.00 hrs and 6.00 hrs. Fire-crackers above the size of 2.00 cms could not be used and this would mean that the comparatively harmless, traditional Olappadakkam (crackers wrapped in palm fronds) cannot be used.
Festival panels are sore over the conditions that only 15 kilos of explosives could be stored and used, there should be strong explosives vault at every festival ground, fireworks should not produce harsh sound, etc. If these conditions are to be adhered to, fireworks cannot be held at all, says Valsan Chambakkara, general secretary, Kerala Festival Coordination Committee.
He also said that the stipulation that land of a minimum radius of 45 metres from the facility where the crackers were being made should be owned by the licencee would make production of fire-crackers impossible. Moreover, the
proposal for more-light-less-sound shows was unacceptable as fancy fireworks were against the customs and traditions, he said.
Kerala sees over 2,000 temple and church festivals between January and May every year and most of these would lose their colour – and therefore their popularity – if necessary relaxations are not brought to the conditions for fireworks displays. “This has now become a Central subject. local authorities have no role at all,” said the District Collectorate official.