more-inManufacture of crackers came to a grinding halt in Sivakasi, the nation’s hub of fireworks manufacturing, on Monday after some 840 cracker units joined in an indefinite closure, protesting against what they call “impractical” safety norms being thrust on cracker shops. “All the fireworks units that employ some five lakh employees have stopped production from today,” said K. Mariappan, a leading fireworks manufacturer. Following this accident, the High Court came down heavily on the authorities on the safety measures to be adopted at cracker shops. “Some of the features of the draft rules will wipe out all cracker shops in the country as none of the existing shops could comply with them. Demolition of any floors over cracker shops was highly unacceptable, the manufactures said.

Source: The Hindu February 20, 2017 16:25 UTC