VIRUDHUNAGAR: Members of the Tamilan Amorces and Firecrackers Manufacturers Association (TAFMA) shut down their production units indefinitely on Monday, demanding relaxation on use of barium nitrate salt and permission to manufacture garland crackers.
TAFMA President V Kathalingam said, “Officials, on the pretext of inspections, seized all our finished goods and are treating us like criminals. Though our members have fulfilled all norms of the licensing agencies, the officials are punishing us by giving lame charges.
There are a total of 195 members in our association. Around 150 of us have a licence from the District Revenue Officer, and the rest of us possess licence from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) in Nagpur and Chennai. We will continue our protest till our demands are met.”
The owners have also decided to hand over their unit keys to Collector J Meganatha Reddy on Thursday as a mark of protest. Further, the association has planned to hold a protest with over one lakh employees in the district on Friday.