00:00Let's turn to tonight's Get Real India story which comes from Bhopal.
00:04Carbide guns sold openly during Diwali have left more than 180 people,
00:11mainly children with eye injuries in Madhya Pradesh.
00:15Take a look at tonight's Get Real India story.
00:18The hunt for louder and cheaper fireworks has landed over 180 people,
00:32mostly children, in hospitals across Madhya Pradesh right after Diwali.
00:38They all used what is known on the streets as the carbide gun.
00:41A cheap contraption made of plastic pipe and uses calcium carbide, water and a gas lighter.
01:11Some of the victims have lost vision partially.
01:22Some need procedures like corneal transplants.
01:26About 10 to 15% are very severe which has caused severe visual damage.
01:34Whereas about 80% they are moderate to mild cases.
01:39We have already started different surgical procedures so that stage by stage they can recover some injury.
01:46The carbide guns were being sold in the market for 150 to 250 rupees.
02:08When the calcium carbide, an easy available chemical, is mixed with water, acetylene gas, a highly inflammable compound, is produced.
02:20The gas lighter becomes the trigger.
02:24Even a small spark can cause a blast and cause serious injuries as the unfortunate victims found out.
02:31The injuries, they had impact of chemical which was used in the gun.
02:37Plus there was a firecracker kind of injury also.
02:42Plus there was a blast kind of thing which occurred near the eye.
02:47So there was a combination of three kinds of injury.
02:51Burn injury due to fire.
02:53Then chemical injury due to that chemical use in the gun.
02:56And a blast injury because of the pressure of the acetylene gas.
03:01The guns, which were not subjected to any safety checks, were being sold blatantly in violation of all norms.
03:10The open sale of illegal carbide guns have exposed the law enforcement agencies of Madhya Pradesh.
03:17With Ravish Pal Singh, Bureau Report, India Today.
Comments