our good citizens have taken it a step further and are calling for a blanket ban on fireworks production and are exhorting everyone to stop buying fireworks manufactured in Sivakasi. Whoa! Let us hold our horses for a second here and take a look at the big picture.

By any stretch of logic, it does not make sense to punish an entire town for the actions of a misguided few. Let us not take the simplistic approach of blaming and hanging the good citizens of Sivakasi while myopically ignoring the real issues. Why exactly did the government officials do such an abysmal job of enforcing their own strictures? And the emergency response to the accident was clearly inadequate with rescue teams arriving late and taking action even later. The twin blasts took place at 12:20 and 1:00 pm reportedly and yet rescue work could not commence till 6:30pm since the earthmovers could not be rushed to the spot sooner. Government hospitals in the vicinity were ill – equipped to deal with the emergency and many patients had to be rushed to the nearest city, Madurai and many lives were lost in transit. These are the holes in our system that need to be examined and addressed not the moral tone of Sivakasi.

Anti – fireworks propagandists have accused the town of having been the cause of untold fireworks accidents in the past that have claimed hundreds of lives. But let us stop blowing things out of proportion and address the facts. Sivakasi is the largest fireworks hub in the country. Nearly 90% of India’s fireworks and at least 80% of the matches are produced here. In recent times, an unflattering and unfair portrait of Sivakasi has emerged. It is the stereotypical view that ALL the fireworks units in the town (at least 700) disregard safety regulations, employ children, and greedily churn out their products without the least concern for the wellbeing of their employees.

Now those who have bothered to do their research will be able to state for a fact that the accidents that have been reported over the years have happened only in the small and medium – sized units admittedly because of criminal negligence. These are the units which operate under the radar and are unlikely to be licensed; else the license would have been obtained by bribery. Professionally and properly licensed units follow stringent safety procedures and do not employ children. And though it is common for production facilities to be run on full strength in the peak season before Diwali (safety norms dictate that only four people should be housed in small rooms), accidents are almost non – existent. And that is the hard truth. It has been estimated that the total industry turnover is upwards of 2000 crores and Sivakasi could not have become mini – Japan if its prime industry was an inefficient and haphazardly run enterprise.

Therefore, all the people out there calling for a blanket ban or those who have taken a supposedly noble – I – will – not – buy – fireworks – and – neither – should – anyone – else stand ought to do a quick rethink. If one reads that a moronic and drunk truck driver caused a pileup or ran over pedestrians nobody will be screaming for a ban on cars. And the actions of the lone rapist are unlikely to have activists calling for a ban on the free usage of male genitalia. So it would be nice if the same consideration were to be extended to the denizens of Sivakasi, since the livelihoods of practically the entire populace is tied to the fireworks industry. After all it is the responsible and fair thing to do.