Fireworks displays associated with temple festivals and other religious celebrations continue to claim lives with disturbing regularity. The 2016 tragedy at Puttingal temple in Kollam, one of the deadliest such incidents in the world, killed 110 people and left over 350 injured, laying bare the persistent dangers and regulatory failures surrounding high-risk spectacles. Hundreds of fireworks-related mishaps have been reported over the past two decades, indicating systemic safety gaps. Kerala’s fireworks history shows over 750 accidents and more than 400 deaths. All these reflect a persistent but uneven pattern of risk. The latest is the Thrissur pre-Pooram incident that took 15 lives.
The fireworks sector is noted for the vulnerability of its workforce, much of which remains uninsured and outside formal systems of protection. A large proportion of the workers are engaged through informal or subcontracted arrangements, with no access to life insurance, health insurance, or income security in the event of injury or death. Even where statutory mechanisms such as the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation and provisions under the Factories Act, 1948 exist, coverage is often absent in practice due to non-registration of units, fragmented contracting, and weak enforcement.
A powerful but less visible layer in the industry is that of the network of contractors, intermediaries, and political lobbies that shape how the sector actually functions on the ground. Industry associations such as the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers’ Association (representing the Sivakasi cluster) often exert questionable influence over regulatory measures. Much of the production and display work is organised through contract-based chains, where licence holders, unlicensed subcontractors and unregistered local units together reflect a pervasive lack of professionalism.
India has a formal safety and inspection framework for fireworks manufacture, storage and display, though enforcement remains uneven. Regulations are governed by the Explosives Act, 1884 and the Explosives Rules, 2008, administered by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, which licenses units, sets limits on explosive quantities, mandates safety distances and oversees inspections.
In Kerala, district authorities, police and local bodies impose additional controls for festival displays, including prior permissions, site inspections and compliance with court-mandated noise and safety norms. However, recurring accidents point to gaps in implementation, such as unlicensed operations, unsafe storage and weak on-site supervision.
At the Thrissur Pooram parasol display, explosions exceed the prescribed public health and environmental thresholds, particularly during late-night hours. The peak impulsive noise levels reach above 120-140 dB at source, and although attenuated with distance, transient acoustic spikes still surpass the limit of 45 dB stipulated under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. This has significant clinical implications given the proximity of five important hospitals with labour wards, neonatal and other intensive care units, and cardiology patients. They are silent victims of the recklessness of the larger public and abysmally poor scientific knowledge base of the authorities and politicians.
Neonatal ICU care protocols demand strictly-controlled sensory environments, as pre-term and critically-ill neonates possess immature auditory pathways and underdeveloped autonomic regulatory systems. Exposure to sudden, high-intensity noise is associated with measurable physiological stress responses, including exaggerated reflexes, fluctuations in heart rate and oxygen saturation, sleep disruption and elevated cortisol levels. Women in labour or in an immediate postpartum phase may experience heightened stress responses.
Pyrotechnics are very rarely used in developed economies. They allow them only under a strict regulatory setup and a professional risk management system. A choreographed cold-spark system (CSP) comprising jets, fountains and programmable multi-coloured ground patterns offers a viable and sustainable alternative to conventional fireworks, widely adopted in international events without compromising cultural or aesthetic values. Unlike explosive pyrotechnics, CSP enables compliance with prescribed environmental noise limits while preserving the visual spectacle associated with festivals.
When appropriately done, CSP installations can effectively replicate the visual dynamics of traditional fireworks, including sequential bursts, wave patterns, and synchronised displays. The technology is relatively low-cost, and easily operable, making it adaptable for local entrepreneurship, compared to high-tech drone and laser displays.
Kerala is famous for community-based initiatives such as Kudumbashree, which could enter this domain as an organised service provider for festivals and public events, helping transition a hazardous, regulation-intensive activity into a safer, environmentally sustainable, and livelihood-oriented micro-enterprise sector. At Thrissur, a model display park can be established with advanced technology-based spectacles of light—without the sound, smoke and smell of traditional fireworks—run as a community enterprise.
Rajan Gurukkal | Historian and social scientist; Vice-Chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council
(Views are personal)