According to a source, about 50 per cent of the homemade crackers supplied to Karachi are manufactured in Orangi Town and it is a major source of income for people living in katchi abadis.

“Though supplies are coming from China and Lahore, homemade firecrackers of Orangi Town are still popular. About a decade ago the business was done openly, but after the ban factories gradually closed down and people started making the low explosives at home,” a resident of the area said.

Though not being sold openly, firecrackers of various shapes and sizes are available in the city. “Now there is a strict check by the police and Rangers. Firecrackers are being sold either at homes or at a few designated shops. The shopkeeper at the outlet from which I bought firecrackers put them into the flour I purchased from him so that nobody could see it,” said a youngster residing in Malir.

According to Mohammad Hasan, who has remained in the business for some time, the prices of crackers vary from Rs10 to Rs800 depending upon its contents and packing. Some of the dangerous and popular local crackers are rani bomb, anar bomb, murra, dhoka bomb, nalki wala bomb and chocolate bomb.

Talking about the material used in firecrackers, Dr Nasiruddin Khan, head of the centralised science laboratory, Karachi University, said: “The basic components of a firecracker are charcoal and an oxidizing agent that could be potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate apart from iron and aluminium to produce a spark. However, people here, instead of using charcoal, prefer to use phosphorus and potassium chlorate with sulphur and calcium carbonate.

Incendiary mixture

The mixture, called ‘Arm-strong’s mixture,’ is highly explosive as it can detonate with a small friction or shock. Such firecrackers are illegal abroad where they also have specifications and restrictions for different types of firecrackers and their use. Even for a sparkler, there is a rule for its weight. But apparently, there is no law on the manufacturing of low explosives here.”

According to a well-known formula for the production of firecrackers, he said the quantity of potassium nitrate should be 75 per cent, 15pc charcoal and 10pc sulphur. But the formula was manipulated to make a firecracker more noisy, powerful and even more dangerous.

“Large quantities of phosphorus and sulphur make a firecracker more dangerous. It generates more heat, more noise and bigger explosions,” he said, adding that the government needed to make clear-cut laws on manufacturing of crackers. “Also, government agencies should carry out analysis of explosives being sold in the market and punish violators.”

Cracker victims

Giving details about the victims of firecrackers and the nature of their wounds at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, additional police surgeon Dr Zulfiqar Siyal said that such cases usually come on the occasion of Shab-i-Bara’at. “Last year we received 36 cases from all over Karachi and a majority of them were children. These were cases of permanent disfigurement,” he said, adding that mostly serious cases were brought to hospitals and many were treated at private clinics. At Civil Hospital Karachi’s burns centre, Dr Waqar Ansari said about 15 to 20 cases were received last year. Regarding complications in such cases, he said: “Over 25 per cent burns are serious as they can cause a person’s death. What can cause further complication is the inhalation of smoke full of toxic fumes. Secondly, when the skin gets exposed to all sorts for viruses and harmful bacteria in environment, there is a 90pc chance of multiple organ failure that happens from the penetration of these germs into wounds and then into blood vessels.”

Talking to Dawn, Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed admitted that the police had remained ineffective in checking the prime source where these crackers were being manufactured. “Yes, there is a lapse. But the instructions are to check producers as well as sellers. However, we are trying in the best possible way to check violations and make arrests,” he said.

He also cited the small size of the police force as one of the major reasons for the police’s failure in effectively controlling the menace of firecrackers. “With a force of 30,000 personnel, it is too difficult to effectively check crime in a city of 18 million,” he said, adding that parents also needed to ensure that children did not indulge in such harmful activities.

“The police alone can’t control this sort of illegal activity. Society must play its part. Parents must exercise control over their children who put their lives as well as of others in danger just for the sake of pleasure and adventure.”—FI