The mood in India's fireworks capital | India News

The future is uncertain for the 1,070 units of the nearly century old fireworks industry that employs lakhs of workers in and around Sivakasi – the pyrotechnics capital of India. Hit by the pollution row over the past four years and Covid-19, the owners of the industries are clueless on the way forward. large79145753“By this time we would have the factories completely cleaned out with all the stocks dispatched. But due to the ban by various states and uncertainties some factories are left out with up to 20% of their annual stock. The future is so bleak,” said vice-president of the Indian Fireworks Manufacturers Association A S Rajendra Raja. “The loss cannot be recovered,” he said, but feared if the situation persists they will be left with no option but to switch to other industries. “Even then only the bigger units will be able to move on, the debt-ridden smaller ones may have to shut shop for good,” he said. President of the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association and a major manufacturer P Ganesan said they will give a last try to convince the government at the Centre and the apex court to permit fireworks for Diwali. “We will then decide on sustaining or leaving the industry,” he said, and added that the fireworks industries will be ready to wind up if the government clears all their loans. “Who can we trust and make fireworks? We make it for 350 days and it gets banned in 15 days before Diwali,” the industrialist said. 79145844Among the last bids to survive the industry is trying to establish a CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute laboratory in Sivakasi and come up with more formulae for green fireworks, as the government-run research body has only been able to give a few formulae that is insufficient to manufacture the hundreds of varieties of fireworks. The manufacturers also hope the government will recognise green fireworks is legitimate and there won’t be any further questions raised. Green fireworks being still a nascent idea and not yet offering a definitive solution, is seen with scepticism by the industry.boxcontent 79144941Sivakasi: The flash pointNumber of firework manufacturing industries| 1,070Centre approved large manufacturers| 50%State approved small manufacturers| 50%Number of people directly employed| 3 lakhNumber of people indirectly employed| 5 lakhThe production has been steadily declining over the years from an estimated ₹6,000 crore in 2016 to about ₹3,500 in 2019. This has also meant that a few fireworks industrialists began to move out when stringent norms came into place to ensure workplace safety, as it proved to be an expensive one. A few more started to diversify when there was volatility in the market with the entry of fireworks from China. “Some established education institutions and a handful established showrooms and furniture outlets while continuing the traditional fireworks industries,” says Sivarajah Ramanathan the founder and CEO of Nativelead, an organisation promoting new-age entrepreneurship in nonmetro regions. However he observed that the fireworks industrialists are conservative in their investments, as they preferred expanding their existing business and not many were interested in diversifying beyond their familiar territory. Some were interested in real estate investments. Given the scenario the industry is going through, he said that they will approach more industrialists in the fireworks segment to become angel investors. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}(); Sivakasi town secretary of CPM K Murugan said the workers of the firecracker industry have been most affected. The beginning of the fall began in 2016. “It began with demonetisation, followed by GST, green fireworks and Covid-19. Production is hit and the industry is affected by the pollution row. Workers are at the receiving end and are clueless about the future of their jobs,” He said lakhs of people cannot be provided alternate jobs and all at one go and the government needs to step in. medium79145868“If we are serious about solving the problem we should engage with the industry to see workers get transition to safer jobs,” said environmentalist Shweta Narayan, while making it clear that green firecrackers are not an environmentally-friendly solution. Fireworks will disturb domestic as well as wild animals. “Shock due to firecrackers affects birds and the smoke can cause death of insects. On the other hand it is a livelihood concern for lakhs of workers. We are not for an immediate ban. Workers need time to switch to other works,” says environmentalist P R Viswanathan. He also suggested that the ban could begin with noisy fireworks and slowly phase out others over a period.Various states and union territories have decided to impose a ban on firecrackers and its sale ahead of the festivities due to the rising cases of coronavirus COVID-19 and growing air pollution in a few northern states. They are Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Haryana , Karnataka and parts of Uttar Pradesh.boxcontent medium79144656One blow after another for the fireworks industry2016 | Demonetisation move causes a cash flow problem the following year2017 | New GST eats into profit of the unit2018 | SC allows only green fireworks2019 | Court cases drag on; units closed for three months as formula for green fireworks wasn’t available till late 2019 2020 | Covid-induced lockdown hits production, ban by states affects salesUntitled Carousel 78099311Photo: K Antony Xavier