“No outsider was allowed inside… we had to take permission to step out of the factory. We were instructed not to tell anyone about our work at the unit,” said a worker of the illegal firecrackers manufacturing factory in Narela. On the night of October 14, the police busted the factory and arrested its owner Raj Kumar from Punjabi Bagh. He subsequently got bail.
The police said they recovered over 600 boxes of firecrackers and raw materials — all of it amounting to several lakhs. “The factory used to make small firecrackers which are also known as pop-pop and chatar-patar ,” said an officer.
On Friday afternoon, over 30 labourers, mostly women, were seen waiting inside a park, which is right opposite the factory in Narela Industrial Area’s E-Block. They have been coming to the same spot for the past three days after the factory was sealed for investigation, said a labourer, who works at another unit in the same lane. Some of them were paid their dues on Thursday while the others are waiting for the same, he added.
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Two labourers, on condition of anonymity, shared how the factory was running for the last few months and the conditions under which they worked. “We would all come at 9 a.m. and leave between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. There was one guard who would lock the gate after all of us entered. We would mostly stay inside and if someone had to leave, they had to give a reason for the same to the guard,” said a 36-year-old woman, who worked in the factory for two months.
A 41-year-old man said all workers were instructed not to reveal anything about what was being manufactured inside the unit. “The workers in nearby areas were aware that firecrackers were being made inside the factory. Even after the raid, we are not talking to anyone as we might not get our salaries. No one will admit that they worked here,” he said.
A tea stall owner said he used to deliver tea inside the factory till three months ago but was later told not to come. “Earlier, they were making cardboard boxes for shoes,” he said.
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When asked about the presence of fire safety measures inside the factory, the two labourers said they “didn’t notice”. A senior officer said the owner was not in possession of a no-objection certificate from the fire department. “There were a few fire extinguishers but they didn’t appear to be functional,” he said.
The labourers said they were aware of the risks involved in working there and also knew that 17 people had died in a blaze at a firecracker factory in Bawana last year. But, they said, they were “helpless”.
“I have four children. My husband is a drunkard and hardly earns anything. I take up any work that comes my way...if I think about risks, who will feed my kids?” the woman said.
A senior officer said they are yet to investigate how the factory was running and have asked the accused to share necessary details of his employees for further probe.