Festival fans sore over Centre’s new norms on pyrotechnics

THRISSUR: With the festival season in the state set to begin after the Navarathri celebrations, festival fans in general and Thrissur Pooram organisers, in particular, are a worried lot as the central government has imposed strict curbs on fireworks display.

As per the latest Central government notification, the magazine where explosives are kept should be 100m away from the fireworks display ground or fire line. For Thrissur Pooram, the magazine is normally placed 45m away from the fire line. The notification suggests keeping the crowd 200m away from the fire line while the pooram organisers had urged the government to make it 60m.

“We have been asking the state and central governments to make interventions to reduce the distance from fire line to the magazine to 60 m. Since 2018, we have been raising the same demand. What is the purpose of all these colourful pyrotechnic shows if people can’t watch it?” asked Girishkumar K, secretary, Thiruvambady Devaswom.