Run for Fireworks

Around 11,000 people including 6,500 children and 4,500 parents participated in the ‘Kidathon’ that was organized in Sivakasi with the theme ‘Run for Fireworks’. The run organized by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Sivakasi Dynamic was aimed at bringing all the stakeholders of the town that is suffering due to the indefinite closure of the fireworks industries in Sivakasi.

The event flagged off by Virudhunagar SP M Rajarajan, was aimed at drawing the attention of the governments on the crisis caused as a result of the closure of fireworks units in the cracker town. President of the club R Balaji said that the closure of cracker units has badly affected the economy of the town. T-shirts with the words ‘Run for Fireworks’, medals, certificates and refreshments were distributed to all participants.

While an entry fee of Rs 300 was initially collected from each student participant, 50% was refunded due to an overwhelming response from the stakeholders of the town. “We also allowed free of cost participation for nearly 500 students of government schools and from unaffordable backgrounds as they were interested in participating for the cause,” D Janakiraman the chairman of the event said. “So far labourers have been separately organizing protests and cracker unit owners on the other side. Every stakeholder was brought under one banner in this event,” he said.

The event was conducted for children between 4 to 15 years under four categories based on their age. Children under 8 years were allowed to run along with their parents.