AIOS Urges Ban on Carbide Guns and Improvised Firecrackers

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India’s top eye doctors call for a nationwide crackdown on dangerous carbide-based firecrackers causing permanent blindness, especially among children, this festive season.

By TRH News Desk

New Delhi, October 24, 2025 — The All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS), representing over 28,000 eye specialists, has sounded an urgent national alarm against the rising menace of carbide guns and improvised explosive firecrackers that are maiming and blinding children across India.

This Diwali and festive season, doctors across multiple states have reported a disturbing surge in severe ocular burns and trauma caused by so-called “carbide bombs” — crude, homemade explosives created by mixing calcium carbide and water to release acetylene gas. Unlike traditional fireworks, these devices act as chemical bombs, capable of inflicting irreversible burns, corneal destruction, and permanent blindness.

“The rise in these preventable, blinding injuries is alarming and unacceptable. We urge the Government to act decisively and immediately to save vision and lives,” said Dr. Partha Biswas, President of AIOS.

AIOS has demanded an immediate, nationwide ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of carbide-based firecrackers, along with FIRs against manufacturers, sellers, and online suppliers. It has urged the Central and State Governments to disrupt the calcium carbide supply chain and launch urgent awareness campaigns to protect children.

The Society also called on hospitals to maintain 24-hour ophthalmic emergency readiness and on schools and communities to educate children about the dangers of these devices.

“Let this festival of light not become a season of darkness. Ban carbide firecrackers now. Protect every eye, every child,” urged Dr. Jeevan Singh Titiyal, President-Elect of AIOS.

With Chhath Puja and other festivities approaching, AIOS warned that continued use of such hazardous explosives could cause another wave of preventable blindness and facial disfigurement.

“Every child’s eye is precious. These crude explosive devices are destroying vision and lives. We must act now,” said Dr. Mohan Rajan, Vice President, AIOS.

The message is clear and urgent: carbide firecrackers are not festive amusements — they are weapons of chemical destruction. AIOS’s appeal is as much a public health demand as a moral one. Until firm action is taken, India risks turning its season of light into a season of darkness.

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