The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has questioned Tamil Nadu government about alternate livelihood planned for those employed in the firecracker industry across the state since many states have banned or limited the use of firecrackers this Deepavali. Several states especially from northern parts of India, including Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have announced a ban on bursting firecrackers and this will majorly impact the firecracker industry in Tamil Nadu that is the major supplier.
The Madurai bench questioned Tamil Nadu government while hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Vasudevan of Thirumangalam in Madurai. The case came up for hearing on Monday before the bench of Justices Kirubakaran and Pugalenthi.
In the petition, the petitioner said that Thirumangalam taluk and Usilampatti taluk run cracker manufacturing units in Madurai district. He alleged that many companies produce crackers without adhering to safety measures and fail to follow the guidelines given by the government. The petitioner approached court seeking action against these companies.
While hearing the case, the bench made observations and asked the Tamil Nadu government about the number of crackers manufacturers in Virudhunagar and Madurai districts, the number of employees working for the companies, the details of accidents that have happened so far and whether adequate compensation been given for the people and measures taken by the government.
The bench also said that since many states have banned bursting of crackers, what were the alternate employment opportunities arranged by the government. The Madurai bench has asked for a response to the questions and has posted the case for hearing on December 4.
The states of Rajasthan, Delhi, Odisha, Sikkim, West Bengal and Maharashtra have banned bursting of firecrackers. A few states like Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have banned sale and distribution of imported crackers while Karnataka has permitted bursting green crackers.
The decision by state governments, in view of the pandemic and air pollution, has however affected one of the largest cracker manufacturing hubs of the country- Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had written to many state Chief Ministers urging them to revoke the complete ban on bursting of crackers since the livelihood of eight lakh people was directly dependent on this and several lakhs of people are also earning through distribution of crackers.