10/04/2016
We never learn.
More than 750 accidents related to fireworks had happened in Kerala in the past two decades, killing at least 300 people. Hundreds of people were maimed in these mishaps, according to a report in SouthLive. Yet, we let the deadliest of such disaster to happen this morning. More than 100 people perished and about 400 were injured when a pyrotechnic show at Paravur Puttingal temple in Kollam district went horribly wrong. ??
Sparks from fireworks that landed on a storehouse triggered a chain of explosions in the wee hours of April 10. The explosion was so massive that concrete blocks from collapsed buildings were hurled to as far as Paravur town about 1 1/2 kilometers away. One man in the town died when he was hit by debris from the blast. Huge quantities of explosive materials were stockpiled at a building near the temple for the annual fireworks, part of the week-long festival, according to reports. The impact was so huge that the building collapsed and other structures in the vicinity suffered severe damages. Many people died on the spot. Police collected body parts in plastic bags.
?
It wasn’t mere fireworks that was planned. It was a competition between two sides as to who would make the loudest noise and who would create the most spectacular display. After a nearby resident had lodged a complaint with the district authorities, the contest was banned, and officials were supposed to ensure that fireworks of such a scale didn’t take place. ??
But it did.??
"What happened at Paravur is not an accident. It is homicide," says Shibu K. Nair, a director at Thanal, an environmental group. "The Festival Committee members who violated the authorities’ orders should be booked for homicide. And the government should declare a moratorium on all fireworks in the state for one year from now."
One can be certain that a lot of politics will be played in the backdrop of this tragedy. Already there are many reports that some politicians were involved in allowing the fireworks to take place despite the district authorities' ban. Given that elections are round the corner, every political party would try to make the most of the situation. And tragically enough, our focus will drift to the whodunnits and I-told-you-so-s, rather than aiming to find long-lasting solutions on how to avert such tragedies. Soon, the 'Paravur fireworks tragedy' will be another piece of statistics.
?Fireworks happen everywhere in the world. Even finicky Singapore, which is so particular about pollution and safety, has an annual fireworks show. So the problem is not with fireworks, which is a form of art in itself, but the way it is conducted in our country. Unfortunately, often the emphasis of our fireworks is to create the loudest noise. And no restrictions are placed on the timing and materials used in such shows, creating severe health and environmental problems for people. The ill-fated Puttingal fireworks started around midnight and went on till around 3 a.m. And it was so noisy that every year adjacent houses suffered minor damages, which prompted some locals to seek a ban on the event.
According to Muralee Thummarukudee, a Geneva-based emergency response expert with the United Nations, it is time we took steps to train people handling fireworks. There is no such training facility in India, and we haven’t followed this art form’s advancements in other parts of the world, Thummarukudee writes in Mathrubhumi daily. As Kerala became more densely populated, open spaces necessary to hold such events have shrunk; on the other hand, the scale of the spectacle has increased. The large number of people gathering to watch such shows in smaller spaces is a recipe for such disasters.
Over the past decade, temples, churches and mosques in Kerala have become so rich and influential that aggressive and shameless display of might and wealth has become the hallmark of local festivals. Only yesterday, this writer came across a temple procession that had the so-called 'cinematic dancers' gyrating on the public road along with illuminated Theyyams and drummers. Worse, there was a Mercedes Benz S class as part of the procession, inching up just a few yards away from the customary elephant! No wonder why social reformers such as Sree Narayana Guru had warned decades ago against the practice of kari (elephant) and karimarunnu (gun powder). ??Until a few years ago, local festivals, an occasion for residents in an area to come together and celebrate a myth or a legend in their own place, were simple get-togethers. Our temples and churches and mosques were simple. And we were simple too.
"The character of temples of Kerala was tranquility. Festivals meant symphony of oil lamps and floral decorations," says Thanal's Nair. "Who replaced our spirituality with violence, loud noises and frenzied mob?" ? (Photo credit: rmlowe via Foter.com / CC BY) ???