Sivakasi to come up with green' crackers

Madurai: Despite business being hit by the sudden renewal of ban on sale of crackers during Deepavali in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, leaders of firecrackers industries in Sivakasi, which is one of the largest hubs of the Indian fireworks industry, are undaunted as they plan to innovate and come up with 'green crackers' in the future.

A.P. Selvarajan, director of Sri Kaliswari Fireworks Private Limited, Sivakasi told DC that,” our research & development team hasstarted the experiments of manufacturing environmental-friendly crackers. However, the government's support in R&D is imperative to actualise this new initiative,” he said.

The Supreme court on October 10 re-imposed the ban on the sales of firecrackers in NCR in view of concerns over pollution caused by smoke and chemicals released into the atmosphere while bursting crackers. Taking a cue from it, the Mumbai High court has banned licensing for fireworks shops in residential areas in Mumbai. Now, Chhattisgarh government is also contemplating similar action.

“It is not justifiable to squarely blame the fire crackers industries as major environmental polluter, but we are prepared to face new challenges through innovations,” said Selvarajan.

Appreciating this imitative from firecracker industries, K. Sundaresan, administrative head of Fireworks Research and Development Centre, Sivakasi, said that the research team in the centre which has been working on eco-friendly crackers nearly for two years, has produced encouraging results. “We will soon invite firecrackers manufacturers to visit our centre to learn from us,” he said.

Though AMS Ashokan, past president of Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association, Sivakasi, supports the move to manufacture eco-friendly crackers, he was skeptical of backing from the Central government.

“For instance we exported 300 firecrackers consignment to international markets between 1994-1996 via Sri Lanka and Singapore, which was stopped due to unrest in the two countries in 1997. But even after our repeated appeals, the Central government is not taking steps to get no objection certificates from these countries to promote our exports now,” he said. Selvarajan also urged the Centre to clear the hurdles on the export front.

Sundaresan was positive about moving towards producing eco-friendly crackers because leading manufacturers like Sri Kaliswari Fireworks Private Limited, Standard Fire Works, Sony, Coronation fireworks, played a supportive role
even in deciding and arriving at a standard for sound levels for firecrackers during 2005-08.