Survival in question, Sivakasi pins all hopes on Deepavali

Deepavali is just two months away, but the usual enthusiasm witnessed among fireworks’ manufacturers and labourers in the months leading to the festival are absent this time.

With a huge pile of last year’s stock still lying with dealers, a majority of the manufacturers have scaled-down production by around 50 per cent this year translating into reduced working days for lakhs of labourers who are dependent on the multi-crore industry, which could well be staring at an existential crisis.

The stakeholders – manufacturers, labourers, dealers, and allied industries – have just one prayer on their lips. Covid-19 cases should not spike in October leading to a lockdown and state governments should not impose a ban on the bursting of crackers during Deepavali, falling on November 4.

Lockdown and the losses

Two lockdowns induced by Covid-19 in successive years and loss of sales during the marriage season and festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi due to a ban on celebrations are also cited as reasons for the industry’s current plight. The manufacturers have been navigating from one crisis to another in the past few years – notably, the transition to Green Crackers during which they suffered huge losses – and Covid-19 might be the last straw.

“The prerequisite for this industry to survive beyond 2021 is to allow sales and bursting of crackers this Deepavali season. A ban on the bursting of crackers this year would mean stocks worth thousands of crores of rupees lying either with manufacturers or dealers. In such a scenario, we cannot begin production for the 2022 festive season,” P Ganesan, President of Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers' Association, told DH.

If the production does not start immediately after Deepavali, companies won’t up their shutters leaving over seven lakh labourers, both direct and indirect, in the lurch. Already labourers get just three or four days' work a week instead of six days during pre-Covid years.

Since other industries in Sivakasi also depend on the fireworks’ cluster, labourers don’t even have the option of shifting jobs on days they do not get jobs at the cracker factories.

Woes of fireworks’ labourers

58-year-old Sundari recounted her tale even as her hands moved fast in packing 'bijli' crackers at a factory in Meenampatti near Sivakasi. “I consider myself lucky if I get four days’ work a week. Covid has turned our lives upside down as factories do not give us work for six days a week. With just three days’ wages, it is very difficult to meet ends,” Sundari told DH.

“The last year was a tad better because we got six days’ work a week. This year, though the lockdown was lifted early, we don’t get work regularly. You can just imagine what my plight would be,” she said.

Mixing chemicals in a nearby factory, 46-year-old Nagarajan said she shifted to fireworks a decade ago after working in the printing industry for 15 years. “Life has always been difficult for labourers in Sivakasi. But it has turned worse after the Covid-19 pandemic. We don’t even get our salaries on time as manufacturers say they don’t have enough orders to pay us. Since the economy in the town is entirely dependent on the industry, we do not have many options,” Nagarajan told DH.

Scaling-down production

While big companies are taking a risk by manufacturing firecrackers to the scale they produced during pre-Covid years, the small and medium scale industries are utilising just 50 per cent of their total capacity.

The refrain of several manufacturers is that dealers, especially those in north India, are sceptical of taking the orders from Sivakasi as they are not sure of what could be in store as Deepavali approaches.

“Even dealers who gave advance money are asking us not to dispatch the firecrackers. No one is sure of whether state governments will allow the bursting of crackers as many states imposed a ban at the eleventh hour last year. We scaled down production by 50 per cent this year. The tragedy is I don’t know whether I can even sell those,” a manufacturer told DH.

P Asaithambi, Director of Lord Fireworks, referred to an order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that firecrackers cannot be burst in cities that have poor Air Quality Index (AQI) levels and questioned the purpose of manufacturing green crackers if blanket bans had to be imposed.

“My company’s main market is Uttar Pradesh and if there is a blanket ban on bursting crackers or a decision is taken on the basis of AQI level, I will incur losses in crores. Because the AQI level in almost all major UP cities falls under the poor category. Green crackers were introduced to reduce pollution but it is unfortunate they are also not allowed in such places,” Asaithambi said.

'Hope 2021 is different from 2020'

Ganesan added it was unfortunate that firecrackers are blamed for pollution though they are burst only on the day of Deepavali. “There is no study or research to connect bursting of crackers with pollution. Actually, there is no relation between the bursting of firecrackers and Covid-19 infections. But many state governments banned firecrackers last year. We just hope 2021 is different from 2020,” he said.

Asaithambi, also the president of Sivakasi Fireworks Manufacturers’ Association, said his firm has reduced production by at least 50 per cent this year due to fear of a last-minute ban.

“At our factory, we work only for four days a week while many small players have reduced the working days to three. There is no point in producing firecrackers in abundance and stocking them in godowns. The uncertainty surrounding the sales is what worries the manufacturers and dealers,” Asaithambi said.

N Kartheeswaran of Sri Velavan Fireworks too echoed the same sentiments maintaining that he may have to shut down his unit if he does not manage to push the stock off his factory before Deepavali. “We have not been able to offset the losses that we incurred last year. Many dealers have not paid for the stocks that they took from us last year as they were not able to sell them. If we continue to invest, where do we go and borrow?” he asked.