KOZHIKODE: The Paravoor firework tragedy has dampened the spirit of the children here to celebrate this year’s Vishu festival. It was seen in the cracker sales this season as many of them preferred soundless, eco-friendly, crackers to fireworks with high decibels.
“There was demand for all kinds of crackers like silver rain thunder, mini bullets, bullet bomb, square bomb, cake bomb big, jawan crackers and double sound small and big,” said Udaya Sanker, who owns the franchise of Ayyans Crackers in Kozhikode.
“But after the news of tragedy came out, our customers, especially children, started asking for soundless or less intense varieties.” “Demand for Chinese crackers has gone up now. The preference for low-sound crackers is for rising awareness among people about high pollution levels,” said Unnikrishnan Menon, parent of 11-year-old Aditya Menon.
“Surprisingly, even children are quite aware of sound pollution and are buying crackers that make less noise. The paper reports on Paravoor firework tragedy was indeed a shock not just to us but even to our children.” Some of the favorite varieties of crackers this year include electric and colored sparklers, wheels, fountains, flower pots, twinkling stars, ruby whip, pencil deluxe, red candle, loose crackers, super whistle and parachute.
