Chemical hazards, detrimental health effects: How workers in TN's Sivasaki fireworks industry are fighting odds

Approximately three lakh strong workforce in the firecracker industry, particularly those in unlicensed, grey units face chemical hazards every day and a possibility of detrimental health effects.

Only a lone liquor outlet could be spotted in this barren landscape, on the desolate road to villages like Alamarathupatti from Sivakasi that are home to a string of firecracker manufacturing units.

As the sun sets, workers of firework units mill around the solitary liquor shop downing their choice beverage and laughing away their travails, which is also a pointer to alcohol dependence among a chunk of them.