Safety norms go up in smoke

Pushpa Girimaji

Investigations into the Puttingal Devi temple fireworks tragedy in Kollam are slowly unraveling the circumstances that led to the massive explosion causing large-scale death and devastation. However, I am really shocked by the utter disregard and disdain for human life and safety exhibited by the temple authorities and the audacity with which they went ahead with the fireworks competition despite denial of permission by the district authorities.

What I find most hard to swallow is the careless manner in which huge quantities of pyrotechnic devices were stored in the premises. Even as children, when we lit those sparklers on Diwali, we would always remember to take out one sparkler and keep back the packet containing the rest in a safe place where sparks would not reach. You don’t need laws to follow that basic principle of safety.

It’s deplorable that the temple authorities exhibited no concern or respect for the devotees, resulting in the huge quantity of stored firecrackers catching fire, leading to the tragic death of 110 and injury to over 400 people.

Equally shocking is the fact that the temple authorities blatantly violated every law and rule meant to prevent such mishaps. What emerges from the preliminary investigations so far is that the firecrackers used were sub-standard and hazardous, containing banned chemical potassium chlorate. Their decibel levels were far beyond the permitted levels and the time of the display was also in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines; they prohibit fireworks between 10 pm and 6 am.

They also did not maintain the safe distance required between the storage of firecrackers and the place of fireworks display. While the Explosives Rules, 2008 mandates that there should be a minimum distance of 100mbetween the spectators and the fireworks display, investigations show that this was just 30m. Can there be a better example of the low priority given to spectators’ safety?

The Explosives Rules make it mandatory for anyone organising a public fireworks display to obtain a licence and follow all the conditions stipulated under it. One of the conditions is that no firework shall contain chlorate or any prohibited explosive. In fact, the applicant for the licence has to inform the authorities seven days in advance, the time and place of display, types of firecrackers to be used, location for storing and display of fireworks, the arrangements for firefighting equipment, etc. In this case, the permission was denied, yet the temple authorities went ahead with their plan.

The district administration and the police, who are supposed to enforce law and protect people, will have to share the blame equally for the tragedy. Despite having denied permission, they made no effort to stop the fireworks display. Nor did they make any effort to prevent stock piling of huge quantities of pyrotechnic devices at the temple and elsewhere.

But there is nothing unusual in this. Whether it was the Dabwali school fire tragedy in 1995, the Uphar cinema fire in 1997, the Kumbakonam school fire in 2004 the Meerut consumer exhibition fire in 2006 or the AMRI hospital fire in 2011, each of them has shown how enforcement agencies fail to protect people and allow gross violations of safety laws. We also know how slowly the wheels of justice move. I can just foresee the long struggle for justice and compensation that is ahead of the victims and their families.

From what I learn, the firecracker display has been part of temple rituals for centuries in Kerala. That may be so, but we need to always examine these rituals through the prism of safety, convenience, practicality and the ground realities in our country. Besides the huge amounts of money wasted on these firecrackers, such displays lead to air and noise pollution and tell on the health of people. And here people live in close proximity to the temple. In addition, the poor safety consciousness and gross violations of safety laws seen in this case make it a highly risky ritual! How can anyone want a firework display that puts innocent lives at risk?