Alternative firecrackers: Data shows emerging threat of gandhak and potash explosives

Potash-related homemade firecrackers are improvised explosive mixtures made with chemicals such as potassium nitrate or potassium chlorate, commonly called potash, and sulphur, also called gandhak. Carbide guns are different devices that use calcium carbide and water to create a flammable gas. Both are assembled at home rather than manufactured under controlled conditions.

Regulated fireworks have controlled composition, construction, and explosive force. Homemade devices do not. Potassium nitrate helps a mixture burn more vigorously, while sulphur is combustible. In carbide guns, water reacting with calcium carbide produces acetylene gas, which can ignite violently when trapped in a container.

The difference matters because uncontrolled mixtures and devices can produce unexpected heat, flames, pressure, or blasts. AIIMS recorded 17 potash-related burns in 2024 and 10 in 2025. In 2025, its eye centre recorded 40 carbide-gun injuries, mostly among boys aged seven to 15.

AIIMS’s Plastic, Reconstructive and Burns Surgery department recorded 70 firecracker burn cases during Diwali in 2024. It separately recorded 17 potash-related burns. In 2025, the department recorded 80 burns caused by firecrackers and 10 potash-related burns. These categories were recorded separately because doctors noticed a distinct increase linked to homemade mixtures.

The RP Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences recorded 160 total eye injuries during Diwali in 2024. The article does not provide a separate carbide-gun figure for that year. In 2025, total eye injuries rose to 200, including 40 caused by carbide guns. Therefore, 160 cases were from other causes in 2025, while the available 2024 figure is 160 other eye injuries.

The figures show two concerns at once. Conventional fireworks remained a major source of burns, while homemade alternatives added separate risks. Carbide-gun injuries were reported separately for the first time in 2025.

Children and young people are especially vulnerable because they may assemble or ignite homemade devices without understanding their unpredictable force. The article says children and young adults attempt to make these devices, while most carbide-gun victims at AIIMS were boys aged seven to 15.

Their position also increases the danger. Children commonly bend close to a carbide gun while lighting it. The resulting blast can strike the face and eyes directly. Carbide-gun injuries mainly affect those areas, and 25% of the injuries recorded by the RP Centre were severe.

The devices themselves add another risk. Their chemical composition, construction, and explosive force are not controlled like regulated fireworks. AIIMS recorded 40 carbide-gun eye injuries during Diwali in 2025. The pattern led doctors to call for preventive action before the next Diwali, especially to protect young users.

A carbide gun relies on a chemical reaction rather than a conventional firework. When water comes into contact with calcium carbide, the reaction produces acetylene gas. The article describes acetylene as colourless and highly flammable, and notes that it is also used in industrial welding.

The gas becomes dangerous when it is trapped inside a container. It accumulates instead of escaping. If someone brings a flame or spark near the opening, the acetylene ignites violently. The rapid ignition creates a loud blast and can injure people standing close to the device.

This mechanism helps explain the injury pattern seen at AIIMS. Children often bend close while lighting carbide guns, so the face and eyes are especially exposed. In 2025, the RP Centre recorded 40 carbide-gun injuries during Diwali, most involving children aged seven to 15.

A mixture containing an oxidising chemical and a combustible material can release energy rapidly because the two components support fast burning. Potassium nitrate acts as an oxidising agent. It helps the mixture burn more vigorously, while sulphur supplies combustible material.

When the mixture ignites, the reaction releases heat quickly. That heat produces flames and can also create pressure, especially in a confined or poorly controlled homemade device. The article warns that the resulting heat, flames, and pressure can cause severe burns.

This is why homemade mixtures are especially dangerous. Their composition, construction, and explosive force are not controlled as they are with regulated fireworks. AIIMS recorded 17 potash-related burns during Diwali in 2024 and 10 in 2025. Doctors have called for preventive measures as these alternatives appear to be replacing conventional firecrackers.

Safdarjung Hospital recorded 145 burn cases during Diwali in 2019 and 216 in 2024. This represents an increase of 71 cases across the period. The hospital’s seven-year data showed that firecracker injuries made up the largest share, followed by burns caused by diyas.

The pattern was not a steady rise every year. Burn cases declined during the Covid-19 years, according to the data. They then increased again as the period continued. The article does not provide every annual figure, but it identifies the overall movement from 2019 to 2024.

In 2025, the Burns and Plastic Surgery department again reported 216 Diwali burn cases. Of these, 198 were caused by firecrackers and 18 by diyas. Safdarjung did not provide separate figures for potash-related burns, so those cases cannot be identified within its total.

The article does not identify any specific measures taken by authorities to reduce access to carbide guns. It also does not report action to remove or restrict online videos showing how to make homemade firecrackers. Therefore, no confirmed enforcement or platform response can be described from the supplied text.

What the article does report is a warning from doctors. They called for preventive measures after AIIMS saw potash-related burns and a large number of carbide-gun eye injuries. Dr Radhika Tandon said the injury pattern required preventive action ahead of Diwali. The article also says videos demonstrating homemade firecrackers were circulating on social media platforms.

The current reality is that home-assembled devices are being used by children and adults as alternatives to regular firecrackers. AIIMS recorded 40 carbide-gun eye injuries in 2025, with most victims aged seven to 15. The article highlights the concern, but does not state what authorities did next.