Crackers can affect children’s growth

The Union women and child development ministry has sent an affidavit to the ministry of environment and forests outlining the ill-effects of firecrackers.

The fumes from crackers can cause miscarriages, affect the growth of children and increase respiratory illnesses among children and pregnant women. The affidavit was submitted so that the departments could work together to regulate the sale and production of fireworks.

The affidavit read, “After firing crackers, fine dust particles get settled on surrounding surfaces and these particles have chemicals such as copper, zinc, lead, magnesium and pollutants that irritate the respiratory tract causing anemia, which reduces the capacity of the blood to carry oxygen. This leads to fever and vomiting and it harms the nervous system. There are also the incidents of youngsters getting injured by burns every year.”

It also stated that harmful fumes that come from firing crackers could lead to miscarriages and therefore it was necessary to control the sale of fireworks, to eliminate or limit the risk to women and children from the noise and air pollution.

The affidavit also pointed fingers at the rampant child labour prevalent in the fireworks industry. There are many children below the age of fifteen who work for more than 132 hours a day, as per government reports, in the fireworks production factories, thus exposing them to a huge amount of chemicals.

The state’s women welfare department has also instructed them to regulate the sale of fireworks, especially during festivals.

Suggestions regarding the same were sought and officials stated that fireworks were not to be burst in closed colonies where there were many families and young children. And children especially, had to be discouraged from bursting crackers, to safeguard them from the ill-effects of the fumes and the physical danger involved.

“We will continue to conduct inspections in industrial areas to ensure that child labour is controlled in industries and will also make sure that no children are involved in the sale of fireworks. Many children come from rural areas and set up tarpaulin stalls and sell fireworks during festivals. We should not buy the same from them and encourage it,” said a child welfare official.