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No change on ground, Bengal cracker units being used to make crude bombs: Officials
The explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in North 24 Parganas district fuelled allegations that crude bombs are manufactured at such units
The explosion at an illegal firecracker factory in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal that claimed nine lives on Sunday has added to the allegations that crude bombs are manufactured at such units, with experts saying no concrete measure has been taken to curb the menace that has engulfed the eastern state.
“After every such incident, as the one that killed nine people in Dattapukur area two days back, we see a knee-jerk reaction from the state government and some raids are carried out to seize some illegal fireworks. A committee has been set up to look into the issue, but things haven’t changed much over the years,” a former official from the state pollution control board said, requesting anonymity.
He pointed out that the committee was set up by the Mamata Banerjee-led state government after the death of 11 people in a similar incident at an illegal unit being run by a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader at Egra in East Midnapore on May 16. Banerjee had also ordered crackdown on illegal units.
Allegations of crude bombs being manufactured at such illegal units in the garb of making fireworks have grown louder after the state police recovered dozens of glass test tubes, beakers containing chemicals and drums filled with powders from a brick kiln near the Duttapukur blast site.
“We suspect that chemicals such as ammonium nitrate and potassium chlorate were being stored in warehouses in Duttapukur area. We also found that stone chips [also used in crude bombs] were being stored in some of the godowns,” a senior officer from Barasat police said, requesting anonymity. “Samples have bene collected by forensic experts. We are waiting for the reports.”
The officer also said that the police have seized around 1,600 kg of illegal firecrackers from several godowns in Dattapukur. “Huge quantities of illegal firecrackers were stacked in warehouses and garages. Raids are continuing in the area,” the officer added.
To be sure, what the local administration calls firecracker units have long been suspected to be crude bomb factories. During the panchayat polls held earlier this year, police recovered large numbers of crude bombs that were used during political clashes that left 18 dead on the polling day and more the 55 since elections were declared on June 8.
“We have seen how crude bombs are indiscriminately used in political clashes and riots. These illegal units are used to prepare the bombs,” Nazrul Islam, a retired IPS officer, said.
The former state pollution control board official, cited above, said that there were only seven or eight green firecracker manufacturers in the state till May this year. “The rest are all illegal,” he added.
Raids were also conducted in South 24 Parganas, considered the hub of illegal firecracker manufacturing units, especially in areas such as Maheshtala, Budge Budge, Nungi and Champahati.
On May 21, two women and a girl were killed in a fire that broke out in a house where fireworks, manufactured in local illegal units at Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas, were being stored.
“There is no count of how many such units exist across West Bengal. The number may go into several thousands. It is like a small-scale industry,” Babla Roy, chairman of the West Bengal Firework Manufacturers’ Association, said.
