VIRUDHUNAGAR: The deaths of a former snack-maker and an ex-electrician, two among the six dead in the blast at Sainath Fireworks Industries in Kottaiyur, have triggered a discussion on how well these workers were trained in handling explosives.
In April 2024, a committee appointed by NGT had suggested that the workers involved in hazardous chemicals have to be trained and certified before being recruited.
Speaking to TNIE, the family members of the former snack-maker, Meenakshisundaram, said he had switched his job just 10 days ago due to health reasons and better pay. Meanwhile, the ex-electrician, Sivakumar, joined the cracker unit a month ago, in December, due to a complication in his leg.
A document accessed by TNIE said the district administration began training programme for foremen and supervisors of cracker units in 2024. However, training for the workers in the cracker units began four days ago.
Responding to a question on whether the employees of the cracker unit were trained, Collector VP Jeyaseelan said, “We have instructed the owners to mandatorily give training to the workers, especially the foreman, managers before recruiting them. Whether the workers were recruited after training, in this particular incident, will be known only after the investigation. “Action will be taken if it is found that they are not trained,” he said.
Sources said all the six deceased were engaged in handling manimarundhu (pellets) in one of the rooms of the cracker unit.
A leading cracker manufacturer in the district said the chemical pellets are significant in cracker manufacturing owing to their ability to produce colours in the much sought-after cracker varieties like aerial shots.
“Generally, the pellets have a mixture of over five chemical compounds including aluminium powder, potassium nitrate, charcoal, sulfur, and magnalium,” the manufacturer said, adding based on the weighing ratio and pellet size, the crackers could be tailor-made to suit different functions.
“The pellets are to be dried properly and handled with caution as they are sensitive, due to which the cracker manufacturing units usually deploy well-trained workers for handling the pellets,” he added.
The officials pointed out the cause of over 80-85% of the accidents are due to carelessness. In 2024 alone, Virudhunagar district saw 43 deaths and 24 injuries in 27 cracker accidents.