Greed of small crackers units causes accidents, alleges T.N. Minister
The Hindu
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran on Thursday told the Assembly that fire accidents in cracker manufacturing units occurred due to the negligence of workers and the greed of owners of such units.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran on Thursday told the Assembly that fire accidents in cracker manufacturing units occurred due to the negligence of workers and the greed of owners of such units.
Replying to a calling attention motion on Wednesday’s accident at a cracker manufacturing unit in Orikkai village in Kancheepuram district, he said though the unit could handle only 15 kg of explosives per day for making crackers, the owners had employed more workers to produce more crackers in view of local festivals. Five persons were killed on the spot and five others in the hospital.
He said there were 1,076 cracker manufacturing units in Virudhunagar district and fire accidents happened in small cracker units functioning with the only objective of making a profit.
“We organised a workshop and advised owners to supply fireproof clothes to foremen. We told the owners that while we were not against the industry, it was the government’s responsibility to prevent deaths,” he said.
According to him, lack of training in safety measures had caused fire accidents in Kancheepuram, Katpadi and Vellore.
“In Virudhunagar district we have made it mandatory that the owners should give ₹5 lakh each to the family of the victims. The mandate has made the owners act with caution since any death in their factories would cause them monetary loss. We are also monitoring the implementation of the rule,” he said.
The Minister said on Thursday a circular had been sent on the direction of the Chief Minister to District Collectors to give training even if there were a few cracker units in their districts. “The government will take necessary steps to prevent such accidents in the future,” he added.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.