SAFETY FIRST: For the festival of lights to be a joyous event, precautions to ensure personal and public safety norms are an imperative. File photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar.
SAFETY ADVICE: Pamphlets with safety information and emergency phone numbers come in handy. The photo shows one such pamphlet given to school children in Chennai. Photo: M. Karunakaran
DEMONSTRATING SAFETY: Chennai's Divisional Fire Officer, Priya Ravichandran leads a team to educate school children on fire safety and accident prevention before the Deepavali season. Photo: M. Karunakaran
MOCK EXERCISES: Tamil Nadu's fire service personnel conduct a a public awareness campaign in Tambaram. Adhering to safety norms should be the first priority during the festivities. Photo: A. Muralitharan
PLAYING WITH LIFE: Thousands of ill-equipped workers risk their lives and limbs every year to manufacture firecrackers for the festivities. A typical scene at a workshop in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Oct. 14, 2009. Photo: PTI
DANGER IN THE DEBRIS: Children in Hyderabad search for unexploded firecrackers risking burn injuries from smouldering flames. File photo: Mohammed Yousuf
GHASTLY OVERSIGHT: Remnants of two sheds that were razed in a fire accident at a cracker unit that claimed three lives in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district in July 2009. Photo: K. Ganesan
SCANT REGARD FOR SAFETY: The remains of a fire cracker unit in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district. Improper safety norms have resulted in the deaths of many over the years. Photo: S. James
MOURNING THE DEATHS: A wreath placed by the staff and students outside a school, mourning the death of 18 persons who were killed in an accident at a cracker manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district in July 2009. Photo: S. James
MESSY REMAINS: After the festivities city administrations have the task of cleaning up the burnt leftovers, as this Delhi scene shows. File photo: V. Sudershan