Berhampur, Oct. 24: Firecracker sellers are a worried lot with the Met department expecting cyclonic storm Kyant likely to hit the state on Wednesday.

The cyclonic storm might be accompanied by heavy rain and Diwali will be celebrated on October 30.

"The fireworks business requires clear, sunny days. We have invested a lot of money in the seasonal trade this year. But the cyclone Kyant, which is approaching Odisha, has washed away our hopes of good business," said Rajendra Kumar Jena, who has been trading in fireworks for many years.

Natural disasters have hit the fireworks business in Odisha in the past.

"The business suffered a loss of Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh because of the supercyclone in October 1999. Business also nose-dived in 2003 because of incessant rain. The losses were more than Rs 50 lakh each during Phailin and Hud Hud," said Inku Gouda, president of the Sri Sri Balunkeswar Fireworks Traders' Association.

The fireworks market opened on October 21 and will operate till Diwali on October 30. The market remains open from Dussehra to Diwali. But this year, the grant of permission for cracker trade by the district administration was delayed. The administration has granted licences to 46 traders to sell crackers at the market here.

Members of the fireworks traders' association have been selling crackers at the Nilakantha Nagar complex on the city outskirts since 1998. Retailer businessmen from districts such as Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh and Rayagada, apart from the public, buy crackers from this market at reasonable rates. The market remains open daily from 9am to 10pm.

"We have decided not to sell Chinese crackers this year and have followed every precaution suggested by the district administration to check fire mishaps," said Gouda. "All the sellers have kept 10kg fire extinguishers at their shops as well as sand mounds."

The wholesale traders have procured the crackers from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, Raipur in Chhattisgarh and handmade items from Nalabanta, Ankuspur and Balakrushnapur, all three in Ganjam district. The firecrackers were brought here on trucks.

"The trade in Berhampur depends mainly on supply from Sivakasi outside Odisha and two places in Ganjam district - Nalabanta and Ankuspur. Fireworks and crackers of many varieties come from Sivakasi. Crackers such as 'Tala Photaka' and 'Mati Kumpi' come from Nalabanta and Ankuspur and the dangerous seasonal trade continues in the district," said Padma Charan Sahu, who has published many books on the culture of Ganjam.

"Firework manufacturing was first introduced in Nalabanta village by the king of Dharakote before Independence. After Independence, the villagers took it up as a profession. A cracker-manufacturing unit can earn up to Rs 50 lakh a year and most of the business comes during Diwali. The finished goods are supplied throughout the state and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh," said Surendra Sahu, a journalist based in working with a vernacular daily in <>Aska.

"It's good if traders keep large fire extinguishers in their shops. But the exercise is useless if they do not know how to use them. All the traders and the person in the charge of handling the extinguisher were trained on how to use it," said the fire station officer Berhampur Mohan Kumar Palei.

Sub-divisional police officer of Berhampur Santanu Kumar Das said they were taking steps to stop the sale of firecrackers anywhere outside Nilakantha Nagar cracker market in Berhampur.