Big-bang crackers make brisk business behind sparkler veil

KOLKATA: A bumpy ride of around 5km from Nungi leads you to Barkantala, Putkhali, Chingripota and Balrmapur, a cluster of villages that hits the headlines every Diwali for the wrong reasons. These villages house one of the biggest firecracker markets in the state, where an array of phuljhuri, rangmashal and basan-tubri is displayed at makeshift shops.But the "real fare" is safely tucked away.
"You won't find a single big-bang firecracker in the shops. But if you approach the right sellers with the right question, they will bring the packets from the hideouts. There is every kind of banned sound cracker: dodoma, chocolate and amraatti. The rates vary from Rs 150 to Rs 400 per 100 crackers. The louder the bang, the higher the price," said local resident Rajat Chowdhury.
Other than 15 major manufacturers, nearly 400-odd factories, which operate out of ramshackle houses in the villages, depend mainly on producing sound crackers. Apart from a few basic fireworks, most of the colourful ones, such as asman, engine, tiranga, mayurpankhi and colourghunti are brought from Tamil Nadu; the noisy ones are produced here. When asked if noisy crackers were available in the market, a small-time manufacturer, Anil Jana, said, "I don't sell them but there are some who only bank on these kinds of crackers. If the size of a cracker is 3mm or 5mm, the sound will be within 125 decibel, but if it is 7mm or more, the intensity will be more than 200 decibel." That is more than enough to damage ear drums at a single exposure.
However, the more "powerful" manufacturers differ. "There is not a single cracker that can produce noise above 125 decibel but we have a surprising rule in the state. While the entire nation goes by the 125-decibel norm, our state pitches for 90 decibel. They have lost in the high court, Supreme Court and the green bench but they will not change their rules. The police take advantage of that," said Sukhdeb Naskar, secretary of Nungi fireworks association. He doesn't know, perhaps, that the green bench is yet to give its verdict on noise limit.
"Every year, police seize a large quantity of crackers but there has not been a single report on those crackers being destroyed. Where do they go? It is an industry, where 30,000 people are involved, and has a turnover of more than Rs 100 crore. In the last five years, nearly 70% of the buyers have stopped coming over here because of police harassment. If the police want to work in a transparent fashion, they should call the fire workers' association and destroy these crackers openly," Naskar added.
With only a fortnight to go before Kali Puja, the firework market is yet to take off with full gusto, but wholesalers have started to make a beeline for these shops. Before the police start raiding the market, wholesalers are reportedly taking advantage of the lull period to stockpile banned crackers that they will sell at a premium. "We need to stockpile them much before the police raids start," said a Kolkata-based trader.