Chennai: The Tamil Nadu chief minister's office has directed the Virudhanagar district administration to constitute special teams to crack down on illegal firecracker units in the state as well as those working without proper licensing. This was after several deaths were reported from Virudhanagar district which has the maximum number of firecracker units in the state. A notice to this effect was sent on Monday to the district administration which will be constituting five special teams with officials drawn from several departments including revenue, home, fire and rescue, industrial safety, and health.
The district administration will be constituting five interdepartmental teams to crack down on illegal units and to ensure that those with licenses are complying with the norms given. It may be noted that the fire unit accident at Sree Mariyammal Fireworks near Sattur claimed 27 lives and another firecracker unit explosion led to the deaths of four people at Thayilapatti. Inspections will be conducted at the taluks of Sivakasi, Sattur, Vembakottai, Virudhanagar, Rajapalayam, Aruppukottai and Srivilluputtur.
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The inspection at these taluks, considered the headquarters of the Indian firecracker industry, will give a proper message that illegal units can't be spared. Action will also be taken against those legal units which are not complying with the norms provided during licensing, according to the Virudhanagar district administration. The district administration informed the media that those found violating the fireworks license rules and those running illegal units would be arrested under Goondas Act.
District collector Megnath Reddy while speaking to the media said, "This measure is due to the recent tragedies affecting human lives and regular inspections will help crack down on those illegal units and those who are working without having any norms including safety regulations as necessitated under the industrial safety Act. Those who found making firecrackers at their homes will not be spared either and will be served with Goondas Act leading to a minimum of one-year prison term."
(IANS)
