VIRUDHUNAGAR: The announcement of an industrial park in Virudhunagar, and three other districts including Vellore, Kallakurichi, and Coimbatore districts at an estimated cost of Rs 410 crore, will wean people away from the illegal firecracker manufacturing units operating here and put an end to loss of lives in accidents that have become too frequent in the sector.
SIPCOT has acquired 1,052 acres of land near Kumaralingapuram for setting up phase 1 of the industrial park. Sources from SIPCOT said the first phase of the Industrial park would be part of MITRA. (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel) park that was announced by the Union government recently.
In the last few months, scores of people died in blasts in firecracker units that had not been following safety measures, and were employing people illegally. The son of a 50-year-old man who died in an accident at a unit near Valayapatti last year said his father had no other option than to work in the sector because the district lacked other employment opportunities where people could earn a decent income.
N Sathiyamoorthy, joint secretary of the chamber of commerce and industry, said, “As per government records, around 20,000 people are working in firecracker industries, but in reality, it could be in lakhs,” he said, adding at least 20% of people would switch to the industrial parks and workers would choose to work only in the authorised cracker units.
He added that a textile park would encourage more farmers to cultivate cotton. S Uthandaraman, joint director of agriculture, said cotton is cultivated on 20,000 hectares with an average yield of 10 quintals per hectare.