Diwali 2019: Sivakasi ready with green crackers
Chennai, Oct 15: This Diwali will see green crackers taking centre-stage with the country's fireworks hub here rolling out the eco-friendly varieties which have reduced emission of harmful chemicals and low sound in line with the Supreme Court order.
After
a
gloomy
2018
in
the
wake
of
the
Supreme
Court
banning
the
conventional
crackers
on
pollution
grounds,
the
industry
which
provides
livelihood
to
eight
lakh
people
in
and
around
this
arid
town,
over
550
km
from
Chennai,
is
hopeful
of
meeting
the
demand
for
green
crackers
in
the
coming
season.
The
changeover
to
green
crackers
after
extensive
experiments
marks
revival
of
the
industry
which
has
over
1,000
manufacturing
units
around
Sivakasi
and
used
to
clock
an
annual
turnover
of
over
Rs
6,000
crore.
Diwali 2019: Green crackers to be available in markets this season
According
to
Tamil
Nadu
Fireworks
and
Amorces
Manufacturers' Association
(TNFAMA),
the
top
body
of
the
industry
in
the
state,
labourers
had
been
trained
in
batches
to
produce
green
crackers
and
there
would
be
no
problem
in
meeting
the
market
demand
for
Diwali
season
--
the
festival
of
lights
falls
on
October
27.
"The manufacture of fireworks was held up for a period of about four months (this year) due to the Supreme Court order banning conventional crackers in 2018... Then the Central and the Tamil Nadu governments helped us in skill training for manufacturing green crackers with 30 per cent less emission," TNFAMA President P Ganesan said.
The manufacture of green crackers started in March this year following successful experiments and training imparted in association with the Nagpur-based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
Based on the experiments, it was found that green crackers could be made by using substitution chemical for barirum nitrate to the tune of 20 per cent.
Green crackers, Ganesan claimed would bring down the emission of pollutants by around 30 per cent while the noise level would be around 125 decibel(dB), down from 160dB. Though it still exceeded the standard of 90dB, efforts were on to finetune it further.
He
cited
lack
of
sufficient
time
for
being
unable
to
print
the
green
logo
and
put
in
place
the
Quick
Response(QR)
coding
system.
"We
hope
that
the
Supreme
Court
would
allow
us
to
sell
the
green
crackers
without
these," he
said.
Laying down two-hour time frame for bursting fireworks on festival days, the top court had in October last year ruled that only green crackers with reduced emission would be permitted to be manufactured and sold across the country.
The fireworks manufacturing units had gone on an indefinite strike last year demanding the lifting of the restrictions on bursting of crackers.
However,
following
the
initiative
of
the
state
government,
the
industry
in
association
with
CSIR-NEERI
started
work
on
production
of
green
crackers.
Ganesan said from next year green crackers would be available in the market with logo and QR barcode.
He assured that the reduction in chemical level will not have any impact on the variety of crackers that would be available.
The accidents in the fireworks units have come down due to improved safety measures, Ganesan added.
Noting that about 40 varieties of crackers exceeded the decibel level limit, Arumugam, a local quality control official, said however, this year the noise level would be far less compared to previous years.
He also said CSIR and NEERI were helping around 230 manufacturers in producing green crackers by providing their expertise and training the employees in batches.
Mariappan, a labourer at a fireworks unit, who underwent one-month long training, said they were impressed with the process.
Kaliamoorthy, another employee of a local fireworks factory, said a variety of green crackers could be made with the new forumulation of chemicals.
Ganesan said around 75 per cent of the manufacturers "are satisfied with the role of the NEERI and CSIR... They are convincing the other manufacturers also to follow suit.."
The NEERI had set up test, research and training units here for green crackers.
He said depots here have started selling green crackers and the sales was picking up.
Voicing concern over import of Chinese fireworks, Ganesan said green crackers were cheaper to manufacture, caused less pollution, but they would make a mark in the market only if those from China were not imported and illegal cracker units were shut.