Tamil Nadu prides itself as a national model on social development, marching to a trillion-dollar state economy, but the recurring deadly blasts at firecracker units in Virudhunagar expose a sclerotic bureaucracy.

The latest explosion in a firecracker factory in the southern town has taken a horrendous toll of 23 lives and left eight people injured. This adds to a macabre list of invisibilised deaths in the fireworks capital: 262 killed and 202 injured in just a decade since 2010, with no respite in subsequent years either.

After the recent carnage, the district administration and police quickly fixed responsibility on the manufacturer for violating rules and having more employees than permitted; the explanation of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), which licenses........

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