Sivakasi fireworks makers welcome court approval for green joined crackers

Fireworks manufacturers in Sivakasi have welcomed a Supreme Court order permitting the manufacture of joined green crackers, known as chorsa, subject to conditions set by the court. P. Ganesan, an office-bearer of the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers’ Association, described the order as a significant development for the industry.

He said the basic condition was that joined crackers must be made using only green crackers, while the full details of the conditions were awaited. The industry has challenged the ban on chorsa in court since 2018. The Tamil Nadu association and the Indian Fireworks Manufacturers’ Association were among the bodies involved in the proceedings.

T. Kannan, general secretary of the Indian association, said joined crackers accounted for 20% of total fireworks production. He said the ban had pushed many manufacturers towards aerial crackers, which required greater expertise and, in his account, had contributed to more accidents.

Chorsa is sold in different forms, including strings containing between 28 and 10,000 small single-shot crackers. Ganesan said it was an affordable product purchased by people across income groups and retained a strong market. Manufacturers said the order could allow some joined crackers to be made available during the coming Deepavali season.

However, they cautioned that only about a month remained before the festival. Ganesan said inspections by State and Central government officials had already intensified to enforce safety procedures, making large-scale production in such a short period difficult. The industry therefore expects mass production to become possible only from the following festival season.