In Tamil Nadu's Sivakashi, the country's largest firecracker manufacturing hub, there is no commotion this time, like it used to be before Diwali. 85% of the country's crackers are made here, but post-Covid crackers have not been able to reach the level of orders they were getting before 2019.
Orders here are 15% lower this time than last year and production is 30% lower. Stating the reason for this, the President of the Indian Firecracker Manufacturers Association S. Sriram Ashok says that the entire market for genuine crackers has come down because of the 2018 Supreme Court order on green crackers and the ban imposed every year in Delhi. India is the second largest producer of firecrackers after China.
90% of this contribution comes from Sivakashi, a small town 500 km from Chennai. The crackers industry here supports 3 to 5 lakh people, but the speed at which orders are dwindling is alarming. There are 1175 crackers manufacturers in Virudhanagar district of Tamil Nadu. Sivakashi is also included in it. Firecrackers are manufactured in more than 300 of their factories. In 2018, there were 700 factories. Last year Rs. Around 4-5 thousand crores were earned. This time production and orders are also low, so Rs. 3 thousand crores is expected to be earned. According to Murali Asaithambi of Sivakashi Firecracker Manufacturers Association, after the Supreme Court order, every manufacturer is focusing on green firecrackers, but illegal firecracker manufacturers have increased so the demand is going to them.
Online scams on the rise, ordering more, sending less crackers | Trader S. of Pethulupatti. Murugesan said that many websites are selling crackers in the name of Sivakashi Crackers. Last year our old customers from Chennai and Coimbatore spent Rs. Orders ranging from 10 to 50 thousand were placed, but their crackers turned out to be fake. Online sellers do not ship crackers despite taking full payment for the number of crackers they display.
Green Cracker Fraud… Blue, Red-Yellow Colors Adding Potassium Nitrate According to Sriram, barium nitrate is not being added to crackers after the Supreme Court order. This is a major factor in air pollution. That's why the whole market is emphasizing on green crackers. But, contrary to popular belief, green firecrackers do not turn green on bursting. The green color can only be obtained from barium nitrate, which is banned. So, potassium nitrate is now being added to give the green filling. Gunasekaran, who has been running a firecracker industry in Sivakashi for 30 years, said green firecrackers emit 30% less smoke than Chinese firecrackers.
Online frauds on the rise, sending fewer firecrackers than ordered Trader S. of Pethulupatti. Murugesan said that many websites are selling crackers in the name of Sivakashi Crackers. Last year our old customers from Chennai and Coimbatore spent Rs. Orders ranging from 10 to 50 thousand were placed, but their crackers turned out to be fake. Online sellers do not ship crackers despite taking full payment for the number of crackers they display. Recently, the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing has registered 17 such complaints.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
