The apex court's admission of two public interest litigations (PILs) seeking an all-India ban on the fireworks industry has created panic among the people in and around Sivakasi, a small town in southern Tamil Nadu that is known as the hub for fireworks manufacture.
The industry, sources say, provides employment to more than one crore people.
Since the admission of the PIL, fireworks manufacturers in the region, numbering around 900, have halted production.
On January 26, the units will complete one full month of closure, said S Rethinavelu, Senior President of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in Madurai.
The Chamber has been pleading to the State government to seek exemption from the operation of Rule-3B of the Environment (Protection) Rules 1986, by bringing in an amendment to the rules exempting fireworks, so that courts cannot entertain such PILs in future.
Terming the admission of the PIL and the closure of the units in panic since December 26, as an “undesirable development” against the survival of the fireworks industry, a team led by Rethinavelu participated in a day-long fast organised by All India Federation of Fireworks Industries Associations in Sivakasi last month.
The Chamber had, in its appeal, urged the State to engage experienced advocates to conduct the cases when the PILs come up for hearing in the Supreme Court.
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