Ban on firecrackers, COVID-19 hits fireworks industry in Tamil Nadu hard

CHENNAI: The ban on firecrackers by some state governments has come as a double whammy for the fireworks industry in Tamil Nadu, which cater to 90 per cent of the demand in the country, as they have already been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to industry sources.

Rajasthan, Odisha and Delhi have banned firecrackers during the festive season, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and also air pollution, while Karnataka has decided to soon issue an order to this effect.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had written to his counterparts of Rajasthan and Odisha to revoke the ban on sale and use of firecrackers, considering its impact on about eight lakh workers in Tamil Nadu.

Industry sources said the pandemic has resulted in cracker manufacturers operating at only 60 per cent of their capacity and are worried that the ban may even result in some units shutting shop next year.

"We were operating at about 60 per cent due to COVID-19 outbreak.

Now with this ban we are worried how it is going to be next year.

Some firecracker manufacturers may even shut shop when there is no business," a senior industry official told PTI.

The industry, he said, was functioning with very few employees during the COVID-19 induced lockdown and slightly more numbers later when some restrictions were eased.

Other problems they face was disbursement of salaries to employees and uncertainty whether the units would receive payment for stocks already sent to states like Rajasthan and Haryana before the ban was announced, another official said.

He claimed that 30 per cent of the stocks are lying idle.

The firecrackers industry is mainly focused in and around Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district in south Tamil Nadu.

Following a 2018 Supreme Court direction, the state has only restricted bursting of green crackers to one hour in the morning and another hour in the evening on Deepavali day which falls on November 14, this year.