Although all of us want to move ahead and forget the fateful night that claimed over hundred lives in Paravur, that incident should serve as a shameful reminder of our callous attitude towards public safety.
Once a tragedy serves its purpose of making news, the question of public safety vanishes into oblivion until the next tragedy strikes. In some months or less, this ghastly incident will be forgotten. It is time to go in for some introspection if we want to ensure such catastrophic accidents never occur again.
As a society which witnessed one of the worst fire-related tragedies the country has ever seen in which hundreds of people were charred to death, it is our responsibility to collectively raise our voice against such events associated with religious institutions.
Read also: An innovative model to serve justice to Kollam fire victims
Why Shashi Tharoor did not visit Kollam tragedy site
Full coverage of Kollam temple fire tragedy
In Paravur, the temple management brazenly violated the district collector’s order not to hold competitive fireworks. This incident has also highlighted the shortcomings of our judicial system.
The roots of this tragedy lay in the stubbornness some people who disregarded the local administration’s writ and flouted the ban, thus putting the lives of thousands of people at risk.
Plainly speaking, fireworks could be conducted nowhere in Kerala by strictly adhering to existing guidelines. As per rules, to hold fireworks ceremonies in connection with religious festivals, it needs at least 10 acres of wasteland, and barricades should be erected to prevent the entry of surging crowds. Not many temple and church managements in our State do not possess such huge tracts of wasteland.
Pyrotechnic display can go horribly wrong within a matter of few seconds. If there is a concrete building in the vicinity, it is going to be a lethal game. Some years ago, when a major fire broke out from a firecracker shop near the Sweet Meat Street in Kozhikode, the consequent explosions sent huge chunks of concrete flying as far as about 200 metres away. In Paravur, many persons who were in 1-km radius of the temple sustained serious injuries after concrete rubble and other debris hit them after the explosion. In fact, when explosive materials kept inside a building catch fire, that building will go off like a virtual bomb.
In reality, the so-called firecrackers and bombs are similar in terms of their destructive nature. Often, we describe powerful explosive materials using a mild term ‘padakkam’ (crackers) though many of them are capable of causing more harm than a real bomb! In quotation gang slang, the bombs they use to wreak havoc are called crackers.
In earlier days, firework displays were conducted on paddy fields lying unused. Nowadays, such safe, barren fields are hard to find anywhere in the State.
Another key issue is the inadequacy of existing rules in ensuring secure method for transporting explosive materials from one place to another as well as in guaranteeing safe handling of the explosives. It is high time we reviewed our safety related explosives legislation that is toothless even when compared to the norms to regulate liquor sales.
Though the rules say that a licensee can possess gunpowder not exceeding 15 kg at any one time for manufacture of crackers, there is no system in place to verify the total quantity in stock.
The government agencies are responsible for administering the licensing system. However, there many legal loopholes that allow a licensee to possess more than the stipulated quantity of materials, that come under the Explosive Substances Act, sanctioned to them.
Due to absence of strict guidelines that make it mandatory to inform the police when explosive materials are transported, smuggling and illegal supply of such substances go unchecked.
Also, no system is in place to verify how much quantity, for what purpose, was used from the explosives purchased by a licence-holder.
Interestingly, the number of shops selling a seasonal item like cracker is around 3,000 in the State, whereas liquor is sold through about 700 outlets only.
Along the lines of the government policy to make liquor less freely available in the State by bringing down the number of outlets, measures should be initiated to cut down the number of licence for the storage, manufacture and sale of explosives.
In order to prevent their unrestricted sale and usage, the government should take over the manufacturing and distribution of explosive materials from private players.
To ensure that our celebrations pass off incident-free, the current pyrotechnic methods need to be overhauled. In many foreign countries, highly destructive explosives have made for cold fireworks. Nowadays, all the lights, colors, and sounds of a real firework can be recreated digitally. Hope you remember the spectacular fireworks that lighted up the city sky ahead of the inauguration of the 35th National Games in Thiruvanthapuram, last year.
If we can conduct such an event without losing its true essence or compromising on safety measures, why should we expose ourselves to the potentially lethal traditional fireworks?
(The author is a former director general of police. The views expressed are personal.)
