The Kollam fire accident is indeed an example of one of man’s inevitable dooms. It is not a question of mankind nor laws, but the question of how will the families of the 102 deceased will survive. The answer to the questions of law and tradition lay in the hands of the Travancore Devaswom Board.
In spite of more than a hundred being dead, the Board still permits the tradition of bursting fire crackers for every occasion taking place in temples. As long as the show is displayed safely, there is no harm in organizing such shows is what the Board remarks. Apart from this, even the victims who got away with injuries do not mind attending nor conducting shows involving fire crackers. However, the families of the deceased have lost their beloved ones and the bread-winners of their family. The families protest through their cries and demand for the banning of such shows in temples. Their conditions remain unresolved as till now.
Fire crackers have been a part of every celebration happening across India. Although there has been many accidents as such, people still continue to take the risk for the sake of celebration. Such accidents are quite avoidable as long as man cooperates. A lot of such events mostly take part in many religious places, the most being witnessed in Kerala. On such occasions, processions and crackers are one of the key items in order to make the ‘Supreme Almighty’ happy. How did such celebrations occur during pre-historic times when there were no such developments like fire-crackers, lighting, music systems etc.? Considering that, it does not sound like a tradition because tradition is something that develops since early times. The people of India are definitely superstitious but a bit of common sense can be added. When a massive fireworks show happen, it is the duty of the organisers to make sure that everything is being played safe.
A solution for this should not be the banning of fire crackers, but limiting the budget for the crackers so that it will be just a small safe show for the sake of the celebration. The total expenditure which is put for the massive celebration can be used for donations rather than creating a hazardous scenario. Further, the government must provide relief funds to the families affected and also make sure that the temples seek permission from the Board to conduct such risky programmes hereafter.
