The Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned the use of high-decibel firecrackers after sunset in places of worship in the wake of the gruesome tragedy that took place during a pyrotechnic show at Puttingal Devi Temple at Paravur in Kollam district. The Division Bench of Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and Justice Anu Sivaraman also said that fireworks displays during the day too should not exceed the decibel levels of 125-145.
The HC issued the directive on a letter written by Justice V Chitambaresh of the HC itself to its Registrar-General seeking a ban on pyrotechnic shows in the wake of the Kollam incident. The HC treated the letter as a PIl and said pyrotechnic shows that produced high-intensity sounds should not be held between sunset and sunrise though low-decibel colour-and-light performances could be permitted. In effect, Kerala’s most popular pyrotechnic items like Gundu, Amittu and Dyna would be out of fireworks shows from now on.
The Kerala Government will also hold an all-party meeting on Thursday to discuss whether fireworks displays should be banned in the State as it was found that almost all rules and norms concerning use of explosives had been violated by the organisers of the event.
Meanwhile, as the toll in the tragedy rose to 111 on Tuesday with the death of Surendran, 67, the contractor who organised Sunday’s fireworks show, authorities began taking steps to conduct DNA tests on unclaimed bodies, as 21 people remained missing.
Officials said the health department had told the family members of those missing to reach Kollam on Wednesday. They have been asked to bring identity proof of the missing ones and provide samples of their blood at a special counter at the Kollam district hospital.
In another major development, 13 people, including members of the managing committee of the temple, were arrested in connection with the mishap. The arrested included seven members of the managing committee and six workers of the two contractors, who carried out the fireworks display on the final day of the seven-day-long festival.
Earlier in the day, coming down heavily on the State Government for not being able to implement the existing laws and rules which could have avoided the gruesome tragedy, the HC asked it to examine whether a CBI probe was necessary into the Kollam incident.
The Government had ordered two probes, one by a Judicial Commission and another by the Crime Branch of the State police.
When the Government requested for ten days’ time for collecting information for answering the queries, the judges declined to allow that, but instead said the court could consider the matter on Thursday, the Vishu festival day, a holiday in the State. Arguments in the case will now resume at 4.00 pm on Thursday.
Slamming the Kerala Police for failing to prevent the conduct of the fireworks show at the temple for which permission was denied by the district administration, the Division Bench pointed out that inability to safeguard the lives of the people amounted to total failure of the rule of law.
The judges blasted the police by pointing out that they could not prevent the show even when huge quantities of explosive materials were brought to the temple for an event which had no permission. The Bench asked what the police personnel on duty at the temple were doing and why the Intelligence system had failed so miserably.
The judges asked why the police had not applied the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused. As a word of caution, the court asked whether there was involvement of any anti-national elements in Sunday’s accident as Paravur was a town on the coastal belt.
When the HC asked the Kollam Commissioner of Police about the amount of explosives used in the fireworks show, he had no answer to offer. The judges also asked the State police and the Kollam district administration to submit affidavits on the matter and issued instructions for ensuring stringent action against those who had faltered in discharging their duties.
“If the court’s instructions are implemented, there is no need to hold fireworks shows at all,” complained a former office-bearer of the Thiruvambady Devaswom Board, one of the two bodies organizing the famous Pooram festival of Thrissur. “Fireworks shows are all about light and sound and not just light. However, let us wait for the final order,” he added.