Madurai: The Petroleum Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) suspended the permanent licences of 31 fireworks shops in the southern districts for violating safety norms.
Following the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court direction, a special team headed by K.K. Sundaresan, Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Sivakasi conducted raids recently on cracker shops which had obtained their licences from PESO in Madurai.
During the raid, the team members found 13 shops in Madurai had violated the safety norms prescribed under Explosive rules, 2008. “Many shops don't have emergency exits and have also modified the building structure and stored fireworks in excess of licensed quantities posing imminent danger to public safety,” said Sundaresan.
They had originally obtained license for selling 1,500 kg of fireworks in a shop of specified area (minimum 9 square metres and maximum 25 metres as approved in licence) following all safety precautions. However, the officials found these licence holders have modified their building structure and some among them were doing two different businesses in the same space. “A few shop owners have constructed two-storey buildings while selling firecrackers in the ground floor,” said Sundaresan.
The shops were also found in violation of the specified safe distance between two fireworks shops. According to the rule, there should be a minimum of 15 metres between two shops, but many were found functioning between 5 and 9 metres apart, he added.
During regular checks around Deepavali, apart from 13 shops in Madurai, the officials found 15 licence holders in Virudhunagar, one each in Kanyakumari, Sivaganga and Thanjavur had violated the rules. PESO first issued show-cause notices to the 31 shops to submit their explanations. The shop licences were suspended as officials found their response unconvincing.
