MADURAI: As the entire country celebrates Diwali with elaborate fireworks, many families in Sivakasi, the fireworks capital of India, are stricken with grief, having lost a family member to blasts at the fire cracker unit where they worked. In addition, several workers suffer severe burn injuries due to such blasts, adding to the financial burdens of the family. This year alone, 26 persons working in fire cracker units have lost their lives in blasts while many more were injured. The most recent blast occurred on October 3, killing two workers in the unit. Despite the alarming frequency of such blasts at the 640 cracker manufacturing units employing over 50,000 workers, Sivakasi lacks a specialty hospital to treat burn victims. With just a rudimentary ward for burn victims at the Sivakasi Government Hospital, most of them are forced to rush to Madurai, about 70km away, often succumbing to their injuries during the long travel. Virudhunagar district collector M Balaji had sent a Rs 4 crore proposal to the state government in July for a specialty unit to be set up in Sivakasi to treat burn victims, but not much has happened since then. "We have been demanding immediate medical attention for a very long time. When there is a accident, we have to take the victims all the way to Madurai for treatment," says M Mahalakshmi, secretary of Sivakasi Cracker and Matchstick Units Workers Association . S Balasubramaniam, Virudhunagar district secretary of the Communist Party of India says that there are about 3000 persons who have survived burn injuries in and around Sivakasi, while the number of fatalities could run into a few hundreds over the last decade. "It is unfortunate that the government fails to recognize the need for a good medical facility here to treat burn victims," he said. The current ward for burn victims at the Sivakasi GH, with just six beds and a basic air conditioner, is a far cry from the emergency facilities required to treat burn victims. Health experts say that more than the burn injuries, it is air borne infections that be fatal for the victims. The existing ward poses a severe threat on this front too. However, a hospital staff did confirm that the facilities at the burns ward at the Sivakasi GH were on a par with other government hospitals. The proposal sent by the district administration envisages a super specialty burns unit, the first of its kind in the country. It would be a Centre for Excellence to treat burns. The 20 bed facility will have a saline bath ward, cool dryer, ointment spray unit, artificial skin unit, operation theatre, post operative care unit and a rehabilitation ward,'' said S Balasubramanian, deputy director (health), Virudhunagar. The district administration has also sought four plastic surgeons, two general surgeons, four duty doctors, 20 nurses, sanitary workers and a modern ambulance. The state government has formed a committee including senior health and finance department officials to study the proposal and send their recommendation.