KOCHI: The Additional District Magistrate (ADM) on Monday informed the Kerala High Court that the organisers of Nadakkavu Temple fireworks had blatantly violated the directives of Supreme Court, High Court, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the conditions mandated by the District Collector in the fireworks display licence granted to them.

The report stated that soon after noticing the violations by the temple committee, the district authorities had asked the organisers not conduct the fireworks. The improper and careless fixing of ‘amittu’ on the ground has caused ‘amittu stand’ to topple on the ground when the explosives were lit. The toppling resulted in fireworks landing at the feet of the spectators causing them injuries.

The ADM informed that in order to obtain fireworks display permit, the organisers have misled the High Court by producing a falsified site plan of the fireworks display site wherein they deliberately and falsely indicated that mandatory safety distance of 100 meters was available at the fireworks display site.
The organisers also incited people by giving false information to the spectators that though the High Court had granted permission for the fireworks, the authorities were trying to prevent the conduct of the fireworks display. When the police were trying to move the spectators to a safe distance from the fireworks area, the organisers lit the fireworks in disobedience of the lawful directions which resulted in the mishap.
The authorities granted permission for the fireworks following the order of the High Court. Despite the short notice, authorities made emergency arrangements and mobilised 100 police personnel and revenue staff. Two fire tenders and two ambulances were deployed for meeting any emergency situation.
The Kanayannur Tahsildar, who was appointed as an executive magistrate for the display,  and Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara, reached the spot and examined whether the licence conditions were followed.

They found several violations, which were marked mandatory in the licence. The guidelines mandated that there has to be a mandatory safety distance of 100 metres between the fireworks display site and the spectators. But it was not followed.

The sketch of the firework site submitted by the organisers was a false document created by the organisers for obtaining display permit fraudulently. The sketch indicates a distance of more than 100 metres in all directions from the site. But the reality was that the distance from the fireworks site is less than 100m in any direction.

As per the explosives rules and the directives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the licence to store fireworks near the display site (magazine) has to be obtained by the organisers from the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) in Ernakulam.
But the licence for the magazine was not obtained by the organisers. It was also found that instead of storing explosives in the specified magazine, the organisers had stored it very close to the public gathering, in a simple wooden box in an unsafe manner.

Excerpts from the report
The distance between the firework site and the spectators was below 60m and at one point it was only 25m. The organisers misled the court and stated that the safety distance of 100m was available at the site.
The seizure of the unexploded explosives from the scene of crime revealed that the organisers used traditional fireworks like ‘Gundu’ and ‘Olappadakkam’ without any approval from PESO, Nagpur.
The organisers didn’t conduct a risk assessment by a reputed organisation to identify potential hazards arising on account of fireworks.

Siva temple seeks HC nod for fireworks
Kochi: Ernakulam Kshetra Kshema Samithi on Monday approached the Kerala High Court seeking a directive to grant a licence for the display of fireworks during the annual temple festival of Ernakulam Siva Temple. In his petition, Samithi secretary A Balagopalan stated that though an application was filed, the district collector has not passed any order. The petitioner submitted that the temple festival is one of the grand festivals in the city. Every year on the day of ‘Valiya vilakku’, ‘Pakalppooram’ is conducted. Immediately after the ‘pakalpooram’, fireworks are displayed, as a customary practice followed for ages.