21 people lost their lives and several others suffered grievous injuries, in an accident at a fireworks unit at Sattur, last Friday. But this will by no means be the last such accident, caution industry watchers as they point to blatant, unchecked violations that continue in the factories in and around Sivakasi
It was 2 p.m. on Saturday (February 13). Hundreds of men and women had gathered outside the small Ignasiyar Church at Nadusoorangudi, a hamlet some 12 km away from Sattur in Virudhunagar district.
Every morning, this is the busiest spot where scores of vehicles of fireworks units queue up to ferry workers to the workplaces. But, on Saturday afternoon, an eerie silence prevailed, and the air was occasionally rent by some cawing and mooing. It has been a long and painful wait for the villagers since Friday afternoon.
Even the faintest noise of a vehicle passing on the main road swivels all heads towards the entrance of the village, a sign of the crowd eagerly waiting for…