Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Ministry of Environment and Forests to exempt fireworks manufacturing industry from various provisions of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. This will save the livelihood of eight lakh families dependent on the industry, he said.
In his letter, he said that about 850 fireworks units were functioning in Tamil Nadu, mostly in Virudhunagar district, contributing 90% of the fireworks produced in the country.
The industry was facing a major setback after PILs were filed by a few NGOs and individuals in the Supreme Court to ban manufacture, sale and use of fireworks. Already, the manufacturers suffered severe financial losses and loss of employment due to theban on sale of fireworks in NCR region during the 2017 Deepavali season.
Even though the ban was subsequently lifted by the Supreme Court, a few more PILs had been filed before the apex court and had been admitted. This had created fear and uncertainty in the minds of the firework manufacturers leading to disruption of production. Fireworks during Deepavali was deeply rooted in the tradition. Even developed countries like the U.S., Singapore, Japan, Australia and the EU nations allowed massive display of fireworks during celebration of religious, cultural and national events.
The Supreme Court of the U.S., had gone on record to pronounce, that as per the Second Amendment of the Constitution, usage of fireworks during celebrations of cultural events was a right of all Americans, as it symbolised display of civic pride and patriotism, the Chief Minister pointed out.
Further, the T.N. manufacturers used nitrate salts for its production, which was much less polluting than chloride salts used in fireworks manufactured in other parts of the world, he said. Further, none of the T.N. manufacturers were using the chemicals prohibited under Pollution Control Rules or by the SC, he said.
Stating that the safe and environment friendly products were used in T.N. and there wa no recorded long-term effect on the environment, he asked Mr. Modi to direct the MoEF to carry out necessary amendment to Rule 3 (b) of the Environment (Protection) Rules.
