In the wake of the horrific tragedy that has unfolded at Paravur’s Puttingal temple in Kollam, Kerala where at least 108 people have been killed and scores injured, the Travancore Devasom Board has decided to ban competitive fireworks (kampam) in all its temples.
TDB Chairman Prayar Gopalakrishnan said, “In the 1255 temples under the TDB, we have decided to ban competitive fireworks. We will however allow regular fireworks to go on during festivals. Fireworks that are essential to tradition like malapadakam (a string of crackers), gundu (a type of cracker bomb) can be used. However, crackers using any sort of chemicals will be disallowed hereon.”
Kerala has five Devasom boards spread across the region but the TDB is the most powerful one and controls the maximum number of temples.
However, the Puttingal temple does not come under any of the five Devasom Boards. It is controlled by a private entity. And there are many such temples in the state which do not come under any of the Devasom Boards. So as far as Puttingal and other such temples are concerned, the TDB’s decision to ban competitive fireworks will not make any difference.
This means that irrespective of the TDB’s decision and with lack of proper safety measures, tragedies like this will keep recurring in future, in temples controlled by private entities, thereby putting innocent people’s lives at risk.