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Collector Mihir Patel and police chief Akshay Raj are directly responsible.
Know the facts about firecrackers from their invention to their extinction
Ahmedabad, April 3, 2025
On April 1, 21 people were killed and five injured were rushed to the hospital for treatment in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in Gujarat. The explosion was so devastating that body parts of several deceased were found scattered in a field 200 meters away. The explosion was so terrible that body parts of the workers were scattered far and wide. The debris of the factory spread up to 200 meters.
A fire broke out after a massive explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Deesa in Banaskantha district.
Most of the deceased were residents of Harda and Dewas districts of Madhya Pradesh.
According to Banaskantha District Collector Mihir Patel, a factory manufacturing firecrackers was operating without permission. The license for storing fireworks also expired on December 31, 2024. Police visited the spot on March 15. The warehouse was empty during the police visit. The license was not renewed due to the negative opinion of the police.
The incident occurred around 10 am. Nearby residents say that a large number of young children used to work here in shifts.
Industry Minister of the BJP government Balwant Singh Rajput went to the Civil Hospital. A meeting was held with officials. A youth working in the factory was questioned.
Spokesman Rishikesh Patel said that the incident took place at a firecracker storage site. An application was made for renewal of license for firecracker storage. The license expired on 31 December 2024. The license for fireworks storage was not renewed. The license was not renewed due to lack of safety equipment. The work of fireworks was started without a storage license.
Negligence of the Collector and Police Chief
Since it was a warehouse, it was only allowed to keep firecrackers. But fireworks were being made.
Slab collapse
A massive explosion took place in Dhawa of Deesa. The slab of the factory collapsed. It became difficult to find the body amid the debris and fierce fire. The debris was removed with the help of JCB.
Police Chief
Banaskantha District Police Chief Akshay Raj said that the FSL team is present here. There is no evidence that fireworks are being made here. There was no major fire, but the explosion occurred due to some unknown reason. It is believed that the explosion occurred due to lack of proper vacuum. In which the workers may be buried. The culprits will not be spared and there is no evidence of any kind of boiler explosion here.
A complaint has been lodged with the police. The warehouse was being run in the name of Deepak Traders. It was in the name of Deepak Sindhi and his father. The police have started action by forming different teams.
The factory was running illegally. Who is responsible for this?
SIT formed
SIT has been formed to investigate the incident. In which two police inspectors and two police sub-inspectors have been included under the leadership of DSP. DSP CL Solanki, PI V.G. Prajapati, PI A.G. Rabari, PSI S.B. Rajgor and PSI N.V. Resident have been included in the SIT.
Second Special Investigation Team
The government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and ordered it to submit a report to the government within 15 days.
1) Bhavin Pandya, IAS, Secretary Land Reforms, Revenue Department (Chairman)
2) Vishal Vaghela, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Member)
3) H.P. Sanghvi, Director Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar (Member)
4) J.A. Gandhi, Chief Engineer, Roads and Buildings Department (Member)
An inquiry will be conducted to find out the circumstances and causes of the blast.
Did you get permission to open a firecracker factory or not?
Is it necessary to take separate permission for a warehouse to store explosive material?
Action has been taken as per rules, who is responsible for this?
Whether the provisions of the Explosives Act, 1884 and Explosives Rules, 2008 have been complied with or not?
Are labour laws and child labour laws for workers followed?
Were construction rules followed?
Fire NOC permission and related safety equipment and safety arrangements against accidents.
Has the local administration conducted periodic inspections?
Persons responsible for negligence/negligence in connection with the incident will be investigated.
An inquiry is being sought against the officer who was negligent in inspecting the firecracker factory.
Difficult to identify the bodies
All the bodies were burnt to ashes and coal due to the fire, so it became difficult to conduct post-mortem and identify the bodies. 23 people were present in the factory at the time of the explosion.
Congress workers protested at the Civil Hospital.
Arrest
Owner Deepak Khubchand and Deepak Mohanani had absconded. He was then arrested by the ADER. Deepak Mohanani was arrested by the Ahmedabad Police in March 2024 in a major cricket betting case. Several bookies were caught on the field during the IPL-2024 match between Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Deepak Sindhi was selling firecrackers in Hamirgarh in 2023. Deepak had come to the warehouse for a year. Deepak Sindhi was accompanied by his partner Vinubhai Golwani.
Deepak Sindhi had cheated traders by giving them firecrackers.
He further said that Deepak had left Banaskantha and came to Sabarkantha two years ago due to differences with his father. It was told that Deepak was thrown out of the house by his father due to gambling debts. Since people in the district are approaching Deepak regarding debt recovery,
he had left Sabarkantha. Gam
Permission was sought to sell firecrackers in large quantities near Rupal village near Bhoi.
Deepak Kumar Khemchandbhai Mohanani was arrested from the President Gallery at Modi Stadium on March 31, 2024. A mobile phone, Rs 12,500 in cash and a ticket of the President Gallery were seized from Deepak Mohanani (Residence 22, Mahavirnagar, Next to Gate, Himmatnagar and 4, Punenagari Society, Deesa). Cricket betting master ID 19exch was found on Deepak’s mobile phone. Names of 17 current customers were also found in the master ID.
Apart from this, an ID named english999 was also found.
During preliminary interrogation, bookie Deepak Kumar Khubchand Mohanani admitted that he had obtained the master ID on commission from his neighbor Rajesh Kumar Parmanand Maheshwari, living in Deesa Pune Nagari Society. Based on this information, a case was registered against Deepak Mohanani at Chandkheda Police Station in Ahmedabad and he was arrested.
Help
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of the workers and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
The workers had arrived two days ago.
The workers had arrived here two days ago. These workers were natives of Handa in Madhya Pradesh. Their families also lived here with the workers. In this accident, along with the workers, their families also suffered.
MP Gani
MP Ganiben Thakor held the government responsible and said that this is the second such incident after Rajkot. This is a big mistake on the part of the administration. What things were kept in mind while giving permission is also a matter of investigation. I will also propose the formation of a high-level committee to take action to ensure justice for the families. If the state government had taken proper action after Rajkot, perhaps this tragedy would not have happened. I hope strict action will be taken against those responsible.
What type of fireworks?
At the wholesale cracker market in Deesa, crackers were available at prices ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 50,000. Chocolate Chakkar, Celebration, Rajukliya, 288 shots, Angry Bird, Chhotabheem eco-friendly crackers were sold.
Factory in Ahmedabad
There are 103 cracker factories in Aslali and Kambha in Ahmedabad.
The first cracker factory was set up in Vanch village in Daskroi taluka of Ahmedabad city in the year 2005. After 20 years, 24 cracker factories were manufacturing crackers in 2005.
Fireworks are also traded from Vanch village in Gujarat and other states.
Nadimbhai is the owner of Sonic Fireworks, who has been involved in the fireworks business for the last four generations and also has a fireworks factory in Vanch village.
We start working on it in the summer six months before Diwali.
The investment for a cracker factory is about Rs 20 to 25 lakh. The profit is about 5% to 7%.
With full GST, crackers have become 30 per cent more expensive.
Labourers
The wages are Rs 450 to Rs 500. In Vanch village, the cracker business was only done by Muslims and people from the goddess-worshipping community. Around 15 to 20 people work in all the factories to make crackers, thus about 450 to 500 people make crackers. 15 to 16 artisans work in a cracker factory.
Sivakasi
India produces the most crackers after China. Crackers worth Rs 8,000 crore are made in India.
Sivakasi, 500 km from Chennai, has more than 800 cracker factories. The livelihood of lakhs of people is linked to this business. 80% of the total firecrackers produced in the country are manufactured in Sivakasi.
Two brothers from Sivakasi, Shanmugam Nadar and Ayya Nadar, returned to Sivakasi in 1922 after learning the art of making matches from Kolkata and setting up a small match factory. In 1926, both separated and started making fireworks. Today the companies of these two brothers, Standard Fireworks and Srikaliswari Fireworks, have become the two largest fireworks manufacturing companies in the country. 80% of the firecrackers are sent to other countries from here.
India’s firecracker factories are deadly
In the year 2025, about 40 people will lose their lives due to accidents in firecracker factories in India. The biggest reason for these accidents is non-compliance of rules.
An accident also occurred in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. A massive fire broke out in a firecracker factory and warehouse, killing eight members of the same family. Four children are also among the dead. Police have registered a case against the factory owners.
Madhya Pradesh
In February 2024, an explosion at a firecracker factory in Madhya Pradesh killed 11 people and injured about 150 others.
Tamil Nadu
Sivakasi, located in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, is considered the center of firecracker production in India. Virudhunagar has more than one thousand firecracker factories and more than three thousand firecracker shops. Most of the accidents related to firecracker factories also occur here. This also affects the health of the workers.
In 2023 and 2024, 27 accidents occurred in the firecracker factories of Virudhunagar and 70 people lost their lives. Analysis of the accidents revealed that the fatal accidents were caused by excessive use of chemicals and employment of more workers than the approved number.
About half of the population of Virudhunagar is directly or indirectly involved in the production of fireworks. Due to the dry and hot climate here, it is easy to make fireworks here. The firecracker industry here paid a tax of Rs 112 crore in the year 2020-21.
In the firecracker factory in Madhya Pradesh where the explosion took place, more firecrackers were being made than the approved quantity. The factory operators
The factory had a license for only 15 kg of explosives, but the factory had many times more gunpowder than that. In this factory, there had been accidents even before this, but still the manufacture of firecrackers did not stop. In the year 2021, 27 people were killed in an explosion at a firecracker factory in Virudhunagar. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had constituted a committee to investigate this. The committee found that the factory had all the necessary licenses, but still the Explosives Rules, 2008 were being completely ignored. Rules have been laid down in 2008 for the manufacture, transportation and sale of fireworks. To prevent accidents in firecracker factories, the NGT committee said that firecracker factories should be monitored through drones. The workers working there should be given safety training. It should be ensured that fireworks are not made in the open. The committee suggested that factories violating the rules should be fined at least Rs 50 lakh. In addition, factories which have already been found guilty of violating the rules should be closed and public liability insurance should be made mandatory for all factories.
Matka Kothi
A 400-year-old method is being used to make firecrackers in Kumbharwada located in Fatehpura area of Vadodara, Gujarat. Making firecrackers from clay. These firecrackers are known as Matka or Matla Kothi. Due to the arrival of Chinese firecrackers, the production of Matka Kothi has been stopped for 20 years. An NGO called Pramukh Parivar Foundation has revived the 400-year-old art of making firecrackers from clay.
Disease and pollution
Around 250 types of fireworks will be available in Ahmedabad in 2025.
Burning firecrackers increases air pollution which can be a major cause of dangerous diseases like brain stroke. It badly damages the health of the heart and brain. Harmful chemicals like sulfur, zinc, copper, sodium are spread. This causes serious damage to the lungs. You may also have breathing problems.
Chemicals can cause serious and fatal diseases like cancer. Eye pain,
Green colored fireworks should be burnt instead of colorful light fireworks.
Law
Permits are required to set up both stalls and factories.
It becomes mandatory to obtain a fire NOC and get the land NA.
The fireworks industry is regulated by the Indian Explosives Act and Rules-1940 of the Government of India. Since this industry is dangerous, its factory should be located outside the city, away from railway lines and public roads.
License
‘No objection’ certificate from the District Magistrate,
Approval of the Regional Inspector of Explosives Department,
License of Inspector appointed under the Factories Act,
License of Municipal Commissioner and
License under Industrial Development Act-1951 of Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Government of India, New Delhi are required to start this industry.
How to do it?
Three types of substances are required to provide oxygen: catalysts like potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate; special combustible substances like iron, magnesium, phosphorus, mercuric thiocyanate or sulphocyanate are added to produce peculiar and spectacular effects when burnt in air, and substances like salts of metals like strontium, calcium, barium, copper and sodium are added to produce coloured flames.
Light
Images of starry sky, noon sun, flower petals, kothi, chakri and snake bite. These two types of firecrackers include crackers, air whistles and rockets.
Process
To make tata, 2 parts potassium chlorate, 1 part aluminium powder and 1 part sulphur or 4 parts barium nitrate, 2 parts aluminium powder and 1 part sulphur are mixed to prepare a finely powdered alcohol. This powder is filled in a strong paper tube and twisted from both the ends and firmly pressed. Then, a thin paper wick filled with powdered alcohol is inserted in one side. If the root is not strong and has holes in it, the buds will not germinate properly and will become brittle. Also, there is a possibility of injury if it ever breaks horizontally. Tatas are woven into threads or looms by weaving with a long wick filled with thin paper and alcohol powder, and packets of five or ten looms are made.
Tatarmandal, Oppariyan, Phulzari, Kothi and Chakardeo: These types of firecrackers are made by mixing salts of different metals in powdered alcohol. When fireworks are lit, different coloured flames and sparks are seen due to the combustion of metal salts. Adding strontium salts gives red colour, calcium salts gives orange colour, barium salts gives green colour, copper salts gives blue colour and sodium salts gives yellow colour. Adding magnesium or aluminium metals produces sparks, sparks and flashes.
Snake pellets: Snake pellets are made from a mixture of mercuric thiocyanate, gum and potassium nitrate. When these are burnt, the combustion of these substances produces residues 20 to 50 times the amount of pellets, which appear in the form of long snakes.
Tartadion: A mixture of magnesium carbonate, phosphorus and gum is made and pasted at regular intervals on a long strip of paper. When it dries, it is burnt.
When the fire is heated, a strip of tar is formed. Sometimes, the mixture is deposited at regular intervals on a stone or metal plate instead of a paper strip. As it dries, it becomes loose and crackling. These are packed in cans and packets of ten cans are made. When the firecrackers burn due to friction, their flash and crackling sound is a delight to watch and listen to.
Air Whistle: Keep potash in a paper poly bag or metal can.
Yam picrate husk is tightly packed and jam filled in it. The burning of this powder produces a lot of gas, and its flow pushes it out of the flask or canister at a very high speed, making it fly into the sky making a whistling sound.
Rocket: Two chambers are made in a paper tube, one chamber filled with coarse powder of coal, nitre and sulphur, and the other chamber filled with fine powder of the same substances. Before the rocket ignites, the combustion of the pulverized powder makes the rocket fly into the sky like the wind. A wooden rod attached to the tube provides stability to the rocket during flight. At that time, when the coal powder burns, its spark-emitting tail is seen. When the rocket reaches its maximum flight height, the combustion of the combustible powder ignites the fine powder filled in the tip of the rocket, causing the rocket to explode with a loud bang.
There are no quality standards set for all these types of firecrackers in India, so at present it depends on the individual skill of the manufacturer; but the Bureau of Indian Standards is trying to improve it.
It is believed that fireworks were invented by the Chinese and from there it spread to Europe through the Arabs.
History of fireworks
Start of fireworks
The burning of firecrackers in India began with the rise of Islamic empires. Wine originated in China in the 9th century.
During their raids on China, the Mongols learnt the use of gunpowder. The technology was carried to Central Asia, West Asia, the Crescent Land and eastwards to Korea and Japan.
Arrival to Delhi
When the Mongols began entering India, they brought this fire technology with them. Then in the middle of the 13th century it was introduced in Delhi.
The medieval historian Farishta in his book Tarikh-i-Farishta mentions an incident of March 1258. It was made to welcome the envoy of Hulagu Khan. He was born in Delhi, in the court of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud. 3,000 court-loads of firecrackers were ordered for the occasion.
Lieutenant Colonel John Briggs of the East India Company, who later became a General, translated this book into English. However, he was unable to clarify what Firista meant by fireworks and later speculated that it was Greek fire, which was used by Muhammad bin Qasim and Mahmud Ghaznavi.
The Portuguese, who came to India before the Mughals, also used fireworks. There is also a study on fireworks in the masterpiece Numuz-ul-Uloom, built in 1570 by Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur. Dr. Catherine Butler Schofield, studying at King’s College, London, says that the Mughals and their contemporary Rajput rulers used fireworks in large quantities.
In history, we also find descriptions of the use of firecrackers during marriages, birthday celebrations, coronations and religious festivals like Shab-e-Barat during the reign of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
Another history
China
Fireworks were invented by a Chinese cook in the sixth century. That cook accidentally dropped potassium nitrate on the fire while preparing delicious dishes. As a result, colorful flames started coming out of it, then when coal and sulfur powder was added to it, a huge explosion occurred and colorful flames kept coming out. With this explosion, gunpowder was discovered and attractive fireworks began.
After this, Chinese soldiers used a mixture of potassium nitrate, coal and sulfur to fill bamboo sticks and explode them.
Chinese history says that 2200 years ago people used to throw bamboo into the fire. Since bamboo is hollow from inside and has many knots, its knots burst when heated and there is a blast with a loud sound.
Fireworks were invented in China in the sixth century, which became a favorite of people all over the world from 1200 AD to 1700 AD. Here fireworks started being done on every happy occasion and festival. Even today, the New Year is started by bursting crackers in 199 countries. The tradition of bursting crackers on Diwali started many years later.
The practice of firing fireworks was started in India in the 12th century by the Buddhist monk Dipakar of Bengal. He learned the art of bursting crackers during his travels to Tibet, China. Fireworks were burst on the wedding of Lord Krishna and Rukmini.
Kautilya’s Arthashashtra mentions a mixture which produces a bright flame when burnt. When this mixture is put in a bamboo tube and lit, the crackers burst. Thus, the history of fireworks in India begins from the 13th century, which can be seen in the floral decorations and fireworks scenes in ancient paintings.
When Babur attacked India in 1519, he used gunpowder, and there are also paintings showing fireworks at the wedding of Shah Jahan’s son in 1633. Therefore, there is evidence of the presence of fireworks in India from the 12th century. (Google translation from Gujarati)
