Four women were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit in the densely populated Rathtala area of Kalyani town in Nadia on Friday afternoon.

The powerful blast, which tore apart the 500-square-foot factory, triggered panic among residents. The impact was felt across the neighbourhood as towering flames and spiralling smoke were visible from a distance.

The victims, identified as Basanti Choudhury, 60, Ruma Sonar, 35, Anjali Biswas, 60, and Durga Saha, 40, were all labourers working inside the factory when the explosion occurred.

The incident took place around 2 pm and panic spread as the sudden blast unleashed a wave of heat and tremors, forcing people to rush outside, where they saw the factory engulfed in flames.

"It was a horrible situation. The temperature of the fire was so high that for a few minutes we couldn't even approach to douse it. Later, we tried using buckets of water, but it was too tough. We had already called the fire brigade, but it took time to reach the spot, and they came without a fire tender," a local resident said.

Firefighters faced major challenges due to the narrow lanes leading to the site. "Even our smallest tender couldn't pass through the lane, so we had to work with the locals, using buckets of water," a fire service officer from Kalyani fire station said.

The exact cause of the explosion could not be determined immediately. Fire service officials, with help from local residents, managed to douse the fire by carrying water in plastic buckets from a tube well. Officials suspected a fault in the electrical wiring could have triggered the fire.

The factory, made of bamboo canes and covered with corrugated sheets, had a huge stockpile of flammable chemicals for manufacturing firecrackers.

Police have arrested the factory owner, Khokon Biswas. Superintndent of police, Ranaghat police district, Kumar Sunny Raj, said, "A probe has begun. We will seek remand for Biswas."

District administration sources confirmed that the owner had no license to manufacture firecrackers. Chairman of Kalyani Municipality, Nilimesh Roy Choudhuri, said: "The owner had only a trade license."

The state government has sought a report from the district administration, while BJP leadership has demanded an NIA inquiry into the incident.

The tragedy has raised serious concerns about how such a hazardous unit was allowed to operate in a residential area, especially with the superintendent of police’s office barely a kilometer away.

Explosions in illegal firecracker units have become a recurring issue under the Trinamool Congress regime. In the past 11 years, at least 41 people have been killed in such incidents, including the blasts in Egra, East Midnapore, where 12 people died in 2023, and in Duttapukur, North 24-Parganas, where seven people were killed last year.

The political blame game has intensified over how such a unit in a densely populated area was allowed to function.

Local BJP MLA Ambika Roy said: "Police knew everything and still allowed the factory to operate despite it being illegal and lacking a firecracker manufacturing licence."

According to regulations, the district magistrate issues licenses for manufacturing up to 15 kg of firecrackers and their components. For weights between 15 kg and 500 kg, permission is required from the Controller of Explosives. Manufacturing over 500 kg requires a licence from the "Chief Controller".

Separate approvals are also necessary for making and packaging raw materials, and no such permissions are granted for units operating in residential areas.
After the Egra blast, chief minister Mamata Banerjee apologised for the loss of lives and announced that the district administration would identify illegal units and set up designated clusters for firecracker manufacturing.

However, no such cluster was created for Kalyani, where many illegal units continue to operate in Rathtala and Shahid Pally under Ward 20.
A report from the state government's environment department states that only green firecrackers should be manufactured as per Supreme Court orders. The court has also directed authorities to prevent the sale and production of illegal firecrackers. However, these directives remain largely unimplemented.

"There is no sign of enforcement. Otherwise, explosions wouldn't keep occurring in one illegal firecracker factory after another. The state government must take responsibility for these deaths," said senior CPM state committee member and former MP Alakesh Das.

Local Trinamool councillor Subrata Chakraborty claimed he was unaware of the factory. "It was not a factory in the real sense. It was running in a house. The opposition is trying to incite tension by misleading people," he said.

BJP MLA Ambika Roy questioned how this illegal factory was allowed to operate for so long under the nose of the police and administration.