A firecracker accident killed 14 persons in Attibele in October, 2023.
| Photo Credit: file photo

Even before memories of the firecracker accident that killed 14 persons in Attibele last October have faded, the neighbourhood on the outskirts of Bengaluru is bustling again with hundreds of cracker stalls this season. 

Following the accident in the run-up to Deepavali last year, the State government banned cracker sales in the locality, benefitting vendors in Hosur, in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. But this year, it’s different.

Vendors had also approached the High Court seeking directions to the State government to lift the blanket ban on the sale of crackers and the government issued permits to set up stalls this year. 

Now, Attibele is bustling with over 100 cracker stalls set up and large crowds buying crackers. Despite the government imposing a ban on non-green crackers, this rule does not seem to apply to shops in this locality. Almost every shop has been selling green and non-green crackers. 

A vendor said that since the market was flooded with non-green crackers and there is a demand for the same, they could not keep only green crackers. He said the ban was impractical and not implemented well. He added that the vendors were very careful this year with the storage and the transport of crackers, to ensure accident like last year’s does not recur. 

People buying crackers at Attibele on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
special arrangement

Another vendor Gopal H. said that the State government lifting the ban on the sale of crackers had come as a relief for vendors. “We suffered huge losses last year. We are doing brisk business this year already and we expect footfall and sales to only go up,” he said. He further said that the demand was high for cracker boxes, which had over 50 varieties of crackers.