134 dead, 89 hurt in cracker unit blasts in V'nagar since '22

SINCE 2022, 134 people have lost their lives and 89 others have been injured in accidents at firecracker manufacturing factories in Virudhunagar district, according to official data submitted before the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday.

- S V KRISHNA CHAITANYA @ Chennai

The fresh figures lay bare the extent of safety failures in the industry.

In his report, Virudhunagar Collector NO Sukhaputra said that, at present, the district is home to 320 manufacturing units licensed by the district magistrate (DM) and nearly 800 units licensed by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), a department controlled by the union government. Official data show that the majority of accidents are reported from the PESO-licensed units.

The district, which is India's fireworks hub, recorded 89 accidents between 2022 and mid2025. Of this, PESO licensed-units accounted for 78 accidents, 123 deaths and 87 injuries. In contrast, DM-licensed units saw just 11 accidents, 11 deaths and two injuries.

Year-wise data indicate worsening trends. In 2022, 18 people died-12 in PESO-licensed units and six in DM-licensed units.