Cracker shop owners’ negligence causes most accidents: Govt tells HC

Government advocate Stalin Abhimanyu made the submission before Justice R Mahadevan who was hearing a petition challenging the Villupuram Tahsildar’s decision to seal a cracker shop.

According to the petitioner, P Nithya of Thiru Nagar in Villupuram, the Tahsildar inspected the shop on October 28 when her husband was shifting several cartons of firecrackers to Vellore. “The Tahsildar said we have not complied with the government rules. He said that he would seal the shop as we have kept the firecrackers under the working shed,” she said, contending that it was a common practise to keep firecrackers under the working shed while loading them onto a vehicle.

She added that the Deputy Controller of Explosives who came for an inspection to her shop October 27 had not found anything wrong, and sought for a direction to de-seal the shop, noting that she has to send the crackers to various dealers ahead of Deepavali.

The petitioner added that some government officials could wreak havoc if their unreasonable demands were not met.

However, government advocate Stalin Abhimanyu said the negligence on the part of firecracker sellers was the prime reason for several accidents, including the recent incident in Sankarapuram in Kallakkurichi district in which several people were killed.

Recording the submissions, Justice Mahadevan directed the petitioner to ensure proper safety measures in the firecracker shop. He then directed the Tahsildar to allow the petitioner to run her shop after completing the necessary inspections. The court then adjourned the matter to November 9.