Poorly calibrated bans can create new safety risks. Discuss this with reference to the Sivakasi fireworks cluster.

A well-calibrated ban removes the harm it targets without pushing activity into riskier forms. In the Arjun Gopal firecracker-pollution case, the Supreme Court restricted joined crackers (chorsa). The Sivakasi industry contested this from 2018 until it won conditional relief in 2026 [1]. The case shows how a product ban aimed at clean air can shift risk onto workers, though it is not the whole story.

How the chorsa ban created new risks

• Forced product shift: joined crackers made up about 20% of fireworks output. After the ban, big and small units switched to aerial crackers, which need high expertise, and accidents reportedly rose [1].
• Single-lens design: the Court's reasoning centred on barium and particulate matter [2]. The ban's effect on shop-floor skills was not part of the calculation.
• Illicit substitution: a CBI enquiry found barium being stocked despite the ban [2]. Chemicals handled outside the rules escape safety oversight.

Why the ban alone does not explain the accidents

• At least 134 workers have died in Virudhunagar fireworks and match-unit explosions since 2022. 78 of 89 accidents happened in PESO-licensed units [3].
• The same causes keep recurring: overstocking, unapproved tools, mixing and drying done close together, and untrained workers. These are failures of factory management, not product choice [3].
• The April 2026 blast killed 25 people at a licensed unit that had allegedly been sublet, overcrowded and run beyond permitted hours [3].
• The health case also remains valid. Green crackers cut PM only about 25–30%, and in 2023 the Court called accepting that alone a "retrograde step" [2].

Way forward

• Regulate composition, not products: the 2026 order allows chorsa made only from green crackers [1], which is a better-calibrated model.
• Traceability: put QR codes on green products and set up NEERI-led raw-material testing, as the 2019 PESO–NEERI minutes proposed [2].
• Enforcement: PESO and Tamil Nadu authorities should act against subletting and overcrowding [3].
• Transition support: when a product is restricted, give units time and training before workers take on unfamiliar processes.

Sivakasi shows that a ban's safety effects must be weighed alongside its intended benefit. Combining calibrated product rules with traceability, training and strict licence enforcement can protect both the Article 21 right to clean air and the workers' lives. This matches SDG 8.8 on safe working environments.