Sivakasi units to witness drop in cracker production
The fireworks industry is facing a 40 to 50 per cent decline in production year after year and is still unable to reverse the trend.
A woman engaged in the making of crackers in Sivakasi
MADURAI: With Deepavali falling on November 12, several firework manufacturers in Sivakasi are concerned about the constant decline in production following the Supreme Court’s ban on the use of barium nitrate and joint crackers since 2018.
According to Ganesan Panjurajan, president, Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TANFAMA), Sivakasi, the fireworks industry is facing a 40 to 50 per cent decline in production year after year and is still unable to reverse the trend.
However, there is a steady demand for the Sivakasi crackers in the market and its price may not be a factor as it is likely to remain stable like how it was in the market last year.
The ban on the use of barium-based chemicals, which constitute 60 per cent of the total production, is certainly posing challenges in manufacturing crackers. No innovative product could be made with restrictions on barium nitrate, considered the safest oxidiser with less risk of accident, its colour-lightening effect and a readily available chemical.
No doubt, the barium nitrate definitely remained the safest oxidiser in the 120-year-long history of the fireworks industry, he told DT Next on Sunday. On the other hand, Panjurajan said as per guidelines of the CSIR–National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), stakeholders of the fireworks industry, which is facing a legal battle, hoped to reduce the particulate matters (PM 2.5) to about 50 to 70 per cent against 30 per cent in the present scenario, after conducting experiments.
On its market trend, he said now finished products are being supplied to traders in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka and during the last month, orders placed by vendors from parts of North India were executed.
G Abiruben, vice president, TANFAMA, Sivakasi, said, “We had additional working days this year than last and production could have been increased slightly, but still nobody could achieve peak production, which is made before 2018.”
Joint crackers, which are banned from manufacturing and selling, remain the most sought-after product, but to cater to the demands of buyers, only its imitation of form could be supplied.
A Asaithambi, former president, TANFAMA said with the production restrictions in force, only about 25 per cent of the annual average production was achieved.
Much to agony, illegal production of joint crackers and those with barium nitrate in Sivakasi is rampant. “The illegal production is growing so much since the order came into effect and if such a serious problem goes unabated, then the genuine producers would either have to completely shut their factories or take a turn into such illegal production,” he said.
