FOr as Thumpala Lowa, 38, recalls his son Narendra, the morning of February 28 was like any other morning. She woke up before dawn to devotional songs emanating from the 9th-century Kumara Bhimeswaraswamy temple on the outskirts of Vetlapalem village in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district. Trains were rumbling on the tracks behind his house.
Within an hour, Lowa cooked lunch for herself and Narendra, a 20-year-old construction worker. Wearing her favorite pink saree, she set out for work.
By 8 am, Narendra, who was driving a two-wheeler, dropped her off near an irrigation canal originating from the Godavari river. Lowa waded through shallow water to reach Sri Surya Fireworks, where she earned ₹450 a day. The construction site where Narendra worked was barely 100 meters away from the firecracker unit. His labor contributed to the running of the family.
That afternoon, at about 2:10, shortly after lunch, Narendra heard an explosion. Then, two more in quick succession. A deafening roar arose from the direction of Sri Surya Fireworks. Within seconds the complex was reduced to rubble.
The intensity of the explosions threw bodies across the landscape. Some landed in irrigation canals; Others were thrown into nearby paddy fields. Of the 31 workers present at the site, 20 died on the spot. Eight workers died in the hospital. The three survivors are on ventilator support at the Government General Hospital in Kakinada.
Within hours of the blast, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited the spot and met the bereaved families at the community health center in Samarlakota. He announced an ex-gratia of ₹20 lakh for the family of each deceased worker along with housing, educational assistance and livelihood support. He said the accused would face charges that could carry life imprisonment and their properties could be auctioned to compensate the victims. Home Minister V. Anita and District Collector S. Shaan Mohan handed over checks to the families.
Search is on for survivors
Hearing the explosion, Narendra ran to the spot. Dense black smoke engulfed the incident site. The villagers ran away after hearing cries for help before the emergency teams could arrive.
Narendra recalls, “There was ash and broken roofs. Fire was raging. There was also a suffocating smell of sulfur and burnt flesh.” Then his voice breaks and he adds: “I saw a half-burnt body in a pink saree. I knew it was my mother.”
He handed over his mother’s remains to disaster response workers. There was no time to process or mourn the tragedy; He joins the youth of the village in the search for survivors. “No one survived in the main unit,” he says.
Police later deployed drones to scan fields and canal banks for scattered remains. Two days later, forensic teams say they recovered the head of a female worker from a paddy field. The deceased and injured were from Vetlapalem, G Medapadu and Samarlakota – villages within a 5 km radius of the unit.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the fire broke out in the explosive mixing unit. “The fire might have been caused by spark or friction during mixing,” says a senior police officer. Inspector General of Police (Eluru Range) GVG Ashok Kumar confirmed that the fire started in the mixing section before spreading rapidly to other sheds, where finished products and raw materials were stored in large quantities.
Regional Fire Officer (Krishna-Godavari region), E. Swamy, says that materials like potassium nitrate, barium nitrate, sulphur, charcoal, aluminum powder, starch and metal salts were being used that day. Some of these chemicals can be dangerous if they are not mixed in the proper proportions or handled properly.
Women workers are generally engaged in packing and post-production operations. The intensity of the explosion did not spare anyone. Many of the injured survivors are unable to remember the incident, they are still in shock and fighting for their lives.
The Vetlapalem explosion is not an isolated incident. According to the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Response and Fire Services Department, 69 people have died in explosions at 12 firecracker units in the erstwhile districts of Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna since 2014. On 20 October 2014, 18 workers were burnt alive in Pithapuram in an explosion caused by misuse of sulphur, charcoal and nitrate.
In 2025 alone, 46 people lost their lives in three such blasts in Anakapalle, Kakinada and Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema districts.
After the explosion in Konaseema district last October, the government had formed a two-member inquiry committee. Most of the rules laid down by it were reportedly not followed by the firecracker unit in Kakinada.
This time too, Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration and Urban Development) S. A two-member committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Suresh Kumar and AK Ravikrishna of the Elite Anti-Narcotics Group for law enforcement. Forensic report is awaited.
shattered dreams
For 22-year-old Devi, losing her mother Lova is a shock. “My mother wanted me to complete my graduation. She dreamed of my marriage this year,” she says. “Now that dream is over.”
In another street in Vetlapalem, sisters Usha Rani and Chandra Kala are mourning their mother, 48-year-old Nukala Devi. Widowed two years ago, Devi had joined Sri Surya in 2023 to support her family.
Chandra Kala, who lost her mother in the accident, is being consoled by local people in Vetlapalem village. | Photo Courtesy: T. Appala Naidu
Several years ago, Devi had survived a head injury in a rice mill and received 20 stitches on her head. Those marks helped the family identify his burnt body.
“She called me three times a day,” says Rani. “On Saturday, she called after lunch and asked if I had eaten. She said she was going to talk to my children in the evening.”
Asbestos roofs of more than 100 houses in Gudaparthi area, barely 100 meters away, were damaged. Many residents say that initially they thought there was an earthquake.
Brother of 26 year old Godatha Nani who died in the explosion. “Around 1:45 pm, my brother got a call from the owner asking him to return early from lunch,” says Saibaba. “A few minutes later, we heard an explosion.”
Nani’s cousin Mahesh, 41, and maternal aunt Mandapalli Chinni, 44, also died. He was among the eight Dalits from the Madiga community who lost their lives.
In G Medapadu, Gampala Nagaraju, 47, and his wife Pebodda Managa, 44, both died. “When I called after hearing the news of the blast, my father’s phone rang three times,” says his son Venkat Ramana. “On the fourth ring, the ringing stopped. That’s when I came to know.”
violation of norms
Spread over half an acre, Sri Surya Fireworks was established in 2023 by the Adbala family. It was the largest of the six units at Vetlapalem. A family member, 55-year-old Adbala Srinivasa Rao, died in the blast. His sons, 29-year-old Arjun and 31-year-old Verababu, survived and were arrested on March 2.
Officials allege that the unit had a license to use only 15 kilograms of explosive material per day and employed a maximum of eight workers. Instead, it employed 31 workers. “Around 200 kg of raw and finished goods were deposited at the site,” says M. Srihari Jagannath, Peddapuram fire station officer. “The rush was driven by additional marriage contracts as well as an order worth ₹6 lakh from a local temple festival.”
Peddapuram fire station officer M. Srihari Jagannath says the unit was inspected on January 13, 2025, and directed not to restart production without approval. “The entire operation – procurement, storage and employment – was illegal,” he says.
The operational guidelines mandate a gap of 45 meters between manufacturing sheds and storage areas. Labor and Factories Minister Vasamsetti Subhash said that norm has also been violated The Hindu.
Subhash admitted serious violations. There are 488 licensed firecracker units in Andhra Pradesh, many of which have sought relaxation in safety norms. The government has strongly rejected these requests, he said.
The previous committee had outlined a two-pronged strategy that included comprehensive policy reforms and detailed operational standard operating procedures (SOPs). Central to its recommendations was the creation of a single digital platform – Andhra Pradesh Fireworks Licensing and Monitoring System – to integrate licensing, inspection and compliance oversight across all relevant departments.
The committee made it mandatory to conduct joint inspection by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), fire service, labor department and the district administration, with the inspection report required to be uploaded within 48 hours.
It also proposed the introduction of a unified fireworks operating license along with risk-based classification of units and the development of a fireworks risk index to identify and prioritize high-risk establishments. It suggested zoning reforms to implement a mandatory 500-metre buffer between cracker units and residential areas. Units failing to meet these criteria were to be mapped and shifted to compliant locations.
To strengthen district-level monitoring, the committee recommended constituting a District Fireworks Safety Committee under the chairmanship of the District Collector. The committee was to conduct quarterly inspections, maintain district-level risk registers, and exercise powers under Rule 118 of the Explosives Rules, 2008, to suspend licenses in cases of repeated violations, including violations of electrical safety standards.
On the operational front, the SOP mandated strict separation of processes like mixing, filling, drying and storage in separate sheds. He directed adherence to labor limits in each shed, use of non-sparking equipment, installation of flame-proof electrical fittings, and immediate transfer of finished products to specified magazines. Employment was to be restricted to certified workers above 18 years of age with mandatory training, use of personal protective equipment and appointment of PESO-approved competent foremen.
Additionally, it states that the units must also install automatic heat and smoke detection systems as well as CCTV monitoring systems. It also mandates maintaining adequate water storage, fire extinguishers, lightning arresting equipment and conducting mock drills biennially.
The compliance framework includes digital stock register, QR-coded license display boards, geo-tag inspections, mandatory insurance coverage, third-party safety audits, environmental clearance and continuous community awareness initiatives to ensure transparency and accountability.
lives on the edge
Vetlapalem once flourished with sago factories. There were about 60 units in 2004–05; Today, less than half a dozen are in operation. According to residents, rising costs and environmental compliance requirements have stopped the rest of the work. With few options, workers turned to cracker manufacturing.
Godatha Shyamala, who lost her husband Mahesh, is now facing an uncertain future. She asks, “My husband was our sole breadwinner. I stayed at home to raise our children. Where will I find work now? The sago factories are closed. Should I return to the firecracker unit?” Her children are in classes 10 and 8.
Mandapalli Chinni’s daughter Suvarna Sweety got married in January. “My mother survived three earlier accidents in firecracker units,” she says. “On Saturdays, she even came home in the morning to collect her widow pension,” she says. In fact, it was Pension Day that may have saved at least 20 other women who were absent from work that afternoon.
Sweety says, her mother then went back to the unit. “It seemed as if death was waiting.”
