Kerala HC bans fireworks display in temples after Kollam tragedy kills 111
Ernakulam: Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned the use of sound-making fireworks display in all places of worship in state between sunset and sunrise, three days after the fire tragedy in Kollam’s Puttingal temple claimed 111 lives.
The bench also sought state government's opinion on a CBI probe into the fire that broke out in the Puttingal Devi Temple complex early on Sunday when sparks emanating from a fireworks display ignited a store room filled with crackers and pyrotechnic material.
Read: Kollam collector blames police for Kerala temple inferno
A senior Kerala High Court Judge has suggested the ban of high decibel fire crackers in all temples in the state and sought immediate judicial intervention by the court to stop “man-made” tragedies like Kollam mishap.
In a letter to Registrar General of the HC, Justice V. Chitambaresh had said, “The time is more than ripe for immediate judicial intervention to stop such man-made tragedies by banning the use of high decibel explosive fire crackers.”
Read: Kollam temple fire: Police chief under scanner
The ‘Devaswom Bench’ comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman will considered the petition. Justice Chitambaresh said, “The right to profess, practice and propagate the religion of one’s choice under Article 25 of the Constitution of India does not take in the freedom to use dangerous crackers.”
“Pyrotechnics display using ‘Amittu’, ‘Gundu’, ‘Kathinavedi’ etc have to be banned and at best only low decibel Chinese-type crackers can be permitted for display,” he said.
No nod for even normal fireworks
The fireworks at Paravur Puttingal Devi temple that claimed 111 lives were carried out without any permission, even for a small-scale show. The local police and revenue authorities remained mute spectators to the blatant violation allegedly due to political pressure.
Read: Kerala temples spend Rs 1,500 crores annually on fireworks
It has also come to light that the temple authorities had spread a false propaganda that they had got permission to carry out normal fireworks and even announcements in this regard were made.
The police and revenue officials failed to act even as they were aware that no permission was granted. Though the temple authorities had sought fresh permission for firework with 15 kg gun powder and the local police recommended that it may be allowed, no permission was granted.
