THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Controller of Explosives (CEE), Nagpur, M. Anbunathan has said the use of the banned chemical potassium chlorate will not be permitted in festival fireworks display this year.

Mr. Anbunathan, who heads the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), previously known as the Indian Explosives Department, told The Hindu that a meeting of the festival committees convened by him recently in Kochi had reached a consensus on avoiding the use of potassium chlorate in this year's festivals.

He said potassium chlorate was found to be a major cause in most fireworks-related accidents in the State. Though it was a banned chemical, it was being used widely in many fireworks displays.

Mr. Anbunathan said PESO had decided to reduce the safety distance between the display site and the spectators to 50 metres for 1,000 kg of fireworks display.

Experts, however, said this decision posed a danger of the fireworks display more hazard-prone. Even the Explosives Act stipulated the safety distance for spectators at 200 metres, they said.

On the other hand, the Act itself suffered from the lacuna that it did not specify the safety distance of structures from the display sites. But as per the informal norm, the safety distance for structures was fixed at 100 metres. The decision of the PESO authorities, therefore, ran counter to the provision of the Explosives Act, they said.

At the meeting convened by the CEE, the Controller of Explosives had suggested that the size of the shells used in the fireworks display be brought down in accordance with the guidelines of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) of the U.S.

He suggested that the shell size be limited to eight inches, according to the copy of the minutes made available here.

The PESO also said that festival committees should set up own temporary magazines to store fireworks. The CEE prescribed 45 metres as the safe distance for such temporary storages with a capacity of 1,000 kg.

Mr. Anbunathan said the festivals in this season would be the last one to be monitored by the PESO, as the Government had decided to transfer the powers in this regard to the district authorities.

Now, the powers to grant the licence for manufacture of the fireworks rests with the district administration, while the PESO issued the licence for display. The Government has decided to vest both the powers with the district administration.

Experts have expressed strong reservation on the decision. They say the district administration lacked the expertise to monitor the production, storage and display of fireworks.

The district officials also protested against the move of PESO officials to hold direct talks with the festival organisers without their involvement. "We have to implement the decisions of those meetings in which we were not even invited," said a district official.

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