MADURAI : Stating that improper monitoring of rules violations by firecracker factories and shops led to most of the fire mishaps, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday warned the State government that it might order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the issue.
Hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on a recent fire disaster at two firecracker shops in Sivakasi, wherein nine persons were killed, a division bench of Justices S Nagamuthu and M V Muralidaran observed, “Whenever such incidents are reported, the State government officials (Revenue Department and law enforcement agencies) and the Central government officials (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation — PESO) blame each other. But the real solution would not be arrived at to avoid such accidents in future.”
Explaining the present case, Joint Chief Controller of Explosives A K Yadav said that licence was given to one Sudhanthirarajan, but he illegally sub-contracted the work to two persons — Shenbaga Raman and Anand. The licence was renewed on September 9, 2015, and it was valid till 2020.
When the court asked how the licenses of the firecracker shops were renewed, Yadav said that the department received fees, checked the applications and then renewed the licence.
Under the Explosive Rules, 1983, it is not mandatory for the officials to visit the spot before renewing licence, he said, adding that at a time there would be around 300-400 renewal applications, making field visits impractical. The judges pointed out that the preliminary investigations revealed that rules prescribed at least 15 metre gap between two firecracker shops.
However, the outlets, where the incident took place, had illegally partitioned a shop, thereby running two stalls adjacently. Moreover, the floor area was larger than the one mentioned in the original licence. “Had the officials visited the spot, they could have found out those violations,” they added. The official did not have any answer for this poser.
However, the official contended that they now had ensured that all the cracker shops in Sivakasi followed the guidelines. The judges quizzed whether the officials were ready to accompany them (judges) to verify that the rules were not flouted, as claimed.
“It is unacceptable if accidents occur and the police register cases against laymen and arrest them. They never bring the officials, who issued licence to the shops, despite being aware of violations, to book,” said the judges, while summoning Virudhunagar Superintendent of Police. The hearing was adjourned for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the court also came down heavily on the State government for failing to provide compensation to families of 10 people killed in the explosion at a fireworks factory at Kumbakonam in 2013.
They were given a little monetary assistance under Farmers Protection Scheme and even the police had not filed chargesheet in the case. In case the government did not announce relief, the court would order an interim compensation for them on Wednesday.