India’s Supreme Court in October 2018, workers and firecracker manufacturers were fearing for their livelihood and business.
However, the industry appeared to have been saved, after the development of ‘green crackers’.
However, that innovation is yet to reach Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi, the manufacturer of 90 per cent of firecrackers in India.
Green crackers are considered eco-friendly as they emit 30 per cent less pollutants than the conventional crackers.
These crackers were developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) to reduce air pollution and decrease health hazards.
The research by CSIR-NEERI showed that barium nitrate is an important element, which aids the emission of harmful chemicals and hence alternatives are being looked at.
N. Ellangovan, the owner of Sri Velavan Fireworks, highlighted that the new formula developed by CSIR-NEERI is not supposed to contain barium nitrate but, since it’s not possible to produce crackers without the chemical, they have reduced its volume and used some additives to retain the effect.
Numerous tests to develop green crackers have been conducted but the current formula can only be used for three varieties of crackers — sparkle, chakra and flower pot — he mentioned.
However, Sivakasi’s manufacturing units have been in the business for over 95 years and are aware of the entire chemical components and they have made efforts to reduce pollution by changing the formula, he added.
Vijay Kumar, the editor of Pyro India News, a fireworks trade journal, mentioned that out of the 1,150 factories in the region, only three — Standard Fireworks, Sri Kaliswari Fireworks and Sonny Fireworks — manufacture green crackers as rest of the units are yet to develop the formula.
