A Cracker Town without sound-Sivakasi
Every year around Diwali time, there is uncertainty for millions of workers who toil throughout the year to manufacture crackers. They produce goods working throughout the year in the hope of selling their products for just one day of the year. Diwali is a festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and other religious people all over the world. Though I never had a liking for bursting crackers due to my laziness, I have always supported them. It is a joyous moment of doing it only once per year. Many kids look forward to it all year, it rekindles your child-like enthusiasm. But of late, it has been mired in controversy.
80% of fireworks are made at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. There are 1070 units that employ 3 lakh workers directly & 8 lakh workers indirectly, produce Rs 3500 cr of Fireworks yearly. Staring massive losses and staring closure. Cracker ban has hit the livelihood of over 11 lakh workers. Sivakasi once was dubbed as mini-Japan due to their printing presses for calendars. Now with digital calendars and e-scheduling, demand for paper calendars has been on the wane. It is a 100-year-old industry. More important is, it is a legal industry generating livelihood for women in the region. It is a highly labor-intensive process and done painstakingly by hand.
Chinese firecrackers were flooding the market, they were cheaper, and had more variety, but they were banned. Maybe Sivakasi, the lone region producing the bulk of the products is the problem. Cracker manufacturers based there should branch out to one more region in North India, generating employment, thus diversifying their presence. Boeing and other defense manufacturers do a brilliant job of spreading their operations throughout the USA so that any ban is opposed by all states, and counties dependent on their operations for jobs and revenue.
Also, the Chinese industry, who invented gun powder and now are doing a stellar job of exporting crackers through the world are innovating. Firework shows are a rage throughout the world, with New Year celebrations, July 4 celebrations, and many more taking place all year. Pyrotechnics should be adopted by Sivakasi producers to tap the export market. Green crackers, generating less smoke, and pollution can be popularized and film stars endorsing the product can give a huge fillip to the same.
I agree that untoward incidents happen sometimes in the industry which deploys poor working conditions. Thousands of women rely on them for their livelihood, the fact that it works like a cottage industry is not giving them recognition. They have not unionized themselves, nor the cracker companies are big enough to mount the PR campaigns.
What is needed is a change in the mindset of adopting to modernity, of producing cardboard flexible boxes for logistics companies, green crackers, and to think of sales through the year, rather than just one day in a year. Activists complain of pollution due to crackers, but vehicular, and industrial pollution happening all day every year is a dozen times more than that.
NGO should highlight the plight of people working in this industry so that consumers know that it is not just a tradition, festival, or joy but a subtle way of helping workers living a life. People talk of no mention of firecrackers in Hindu Puranas, and no crackers existing during Rama’s time, hence we should refrain from bursting crackers. Maybe or maybe not, but why be selective in our time period, let us not use technology like how it was 10 years back, and not use mobile phones like it was 30 years back. I sincerely believe, that if it is pollution as a cause, it can be controlled, and if it is the decibel levels, it can be lowered. It is not about a big corporate falling, but 1000s of cottage industries and dependent women workers' lives at stake.
There is no doubt, that working conditions would need to be improved. Many workers continue working despite hazardous working conditions or respiratory illness issues. Many have also fractured a leg or limb but continue working, since there is no other alternative available in the region. There were reports of kids being employed, but now there are no cases of the same since rules are being enforced strictly barring underage employment. Aluminum powder, potassium nitrate, sulfur are all around, which are key ingredients for crackers being made. Gloves need to be worn, fire extinguisher around, safety conditions, and work protocols done to prevent any accidents. Also, insurance needs to be made mandatory for every worker. When all these are done, there would be rising costs, but these are needed to improve the brand image of the battered fireworks industry.
Eco-friendly firecrackers will have lesser harmful chemical formulations, and fewer sound levels, which will enhance the image of this industry as the cause of pollution. It is mostly women who are employed, which is a pain taking work of sewing small crackers to make a bigger one or carefully mixing the chemicals to make one “bijili” bomb. Women workers are paid by their quantity of produce, and when there is lesser sales/demand, there would be less production and hence fewer wages to workers. Revenue has been steadily decreasing from 6000 crores in 2016 to almost 3500 crores now. With more states banning the crackers, it would bring early demise to the industry and millions would be robbed of their livelihoods.
Any festival is about the celebration of happiness, spreading peace, and sharing our love. Let us find an equitable way to celebrate our festival, care for our environment, and also workers who rely on them for their lives. This shall be a temporary solution only, for those workers and industries need to find other ways to stay afloat in these changing times.
