Sivakasi- Firecrackers Hub, The Town That Burns Itself To Light Up Diwali In India
Being India’s one of the most important festivals, Diwali occupies one serene place in peoples’ hearts, there’s always another side that lurks in shades. While the glittering lamps and firecrackers further lit the cities, towns, and villages, there’s some part which drowns in the wasteful chemicals, lust themselves in the financial line that threads seasonally.
They merge themselves in the ocean of chemicals, losing their appetite, at least, the minimalistic health. We, people in general dance in joy, burn crackers, spend some valuable time with our families, where back in there, thousands of people drown themselves in this unhinged business that eats their lifespan like Lacoste.
While entertainment is the today’s (Diwali) will, the aftermath is unbearable. Starting with the muddy roads that were caked with the skin-rotting chemicals, and pets, hiding under the cupboards, scared of the air, we cup our mouths, just to prevent ourselves from falling prey to the breathing consequences, such is the impact of the one-day-celebration.
Though the government is trying its best to convey its views on celebrating the festival in a customized manner, people are too dumb to lay their ears, after all, Diwali is a one-day festival and us least care for the rest of year, drastically, we end up breathing in the very chemical proportions we often curse of.
Now, let us walk through the land of crackers, where people leave their cots heading straight to weave in the crackers, lose themselves in the process of painting their bodies in synthetic ingredients.
From nearly, the very modern period, Sivakasi, a simple town in Tamil Nadu has been considered as the major crackers manufacturing hub. While crackers aren’t limited to the Diwali, there are many other occasions at which we burn them up. And, thanks to this small town which is all-time sophisticated with heaps of crackers, with the estimated turnover of Rs 5,000 crore this year, implicating that around 80 percent of firecrackers in India, Sivakasi is literally the crackers capital of India.
Greenery is an out-of-business thing in Sivakasi. Men, women, and until recently, even children, largely depend on the firecracker industry for their livelihood. Following the ban on crackers and implementation of GST, there have been some severe aftereffects faced by the local industries, but with the demand in other neighboring states, the game just goes on.
To no surprise, everybody in the town is against the Supreme Court’s ban on crackers, as it will hit their livelihoods real hard. For them, crackers industries are everything, as it is what that provides them food.
It is estimated that there are nearly 900 firecrackers factories located in Sivakasi and its neighboring towns, which makes it clear that the economy here is largely dependent on this industry. There is also a thriving printing industry that produces the shiny wrappers, labels, and boxes in which the crackers are encased. Over 5 lakh people are employed directly.
On a brief note, nearly hundreds of people were dead during various explosions. In 2016, roughly eight workers lost their lives, of which six are women.