Missing safety norms, unskilled labour major causes for firecracker unit blasts in Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam: Accidents involving firecracker units are a recurring phenomenon over the years in Andhra Pradesh. Officials often claim to have conducted periodic inspections and yet accidents like the one at Vetlapalem village keep repeating with unnerving regularity.

The many risks involved in manufacturing high-decibel crackers (bombs and sky-shots) notwithstanding, both illegal and licenced units make headlines frequently for deadly accidents leading to a heavy loss of both lives and property. In most incidents, missing safety measures and the use of unskilled workers have emerged as key reasons, experts point out.





The state has witnessed as many as 30 such accidents in the past eight years, and more than 90 persons have been killed. It was only five months ago that Andhra Pradesh had witnessed a major explosion at Sri Ganapathi Fire Works, a firecracker manufacturing-cum-sales unit in V Savaram village in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district. Eight people were killed, including three women, in Oct last year. A short circuit in the electrical wiring system near the explosive material reportedly led to the accident.

Police officials and the fire service personnel say licenced units have permission to store a limited amount of explosives and have only a small number of workers in each shift. But it is common to stockpile explosive raw material well beyond the permitted limits. Unskilled workers and and negligence while handling explosives also lead to accidents.

In fact, owners of illegal and licenced fireworks units alike engage unskilled workers, mostly women and pay them low wages. These untrained workers often cause major accidents, officials say.

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