New Delhi: In Madhya Pradesh, this year’s Diwali celebration turned fatal as nearly 300 people suffered severe eye injuries caused by carbide pipe guns—locally assembled noisemakers mimicking firecrackers used typically by farmers to scare monkeys.
Districts like Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, and Vidisha reported the highest number of cases. The majority of victims were children aged between 7 and 14, with many facing a possible permanent vision loss.
Soon, the government issued an immediate ban on the sale, purchase, and storage of these guns under Section 163 of the Indian Civil Defence Code, 2023.
Till now, the Bhopal police have managed to seize at least 55 carbide guns during extensive raids on different firecracker outlets, leading to two arrests—one in Bhopal and the other in Gwalior.
Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla told the media that the government is monitoring the situation closely and ensuring “best treatment” for the injured children. “Strict action will be taken against those who manufactured and supplied such illegal equipment to the market,” he added.
Earlier, as per reports, some of the government officials had warned against the use of these guns, saying that they release acetylene gas, a highly combustible and toxic compound.
Carbide guns have, over the years, been used by people as a “cheap alternative” to firecrackers and are easily available at local shops. Speaking to the media, Vivek Singh, DCP, Zone 2 Bhopal, said that as soon as the officials learned about carbide guns being reportedly made using a homemade method, potentially posing a risk to human life, the police alerted everyone.
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What are these guns?
Carbide guns were originally designed as agricultural tools to scare away birds and animals, however currently the tool is being marketed as a “festival toy” used for noise-making, hence gaining the interest of children.
Also known as cracker guns or pipe guns, carbide guns are improvised explosive devices that use chemical reactions instead of gunpowder to produce a loud blast.
For the process, a small piece of calcium carbide is placed inside a metal or a PVC pipe made of polyvinyl chloride, a synthetic plastic polymer that is strong, durable, and corrosion-resistant, and then water is added to it to start the reaction that leads to the generation of acetylene gas, which, when ignited, causes an explosion accompanied by a loud noise and flash.
Acetylene gas is a highly combustible gas that, when confined in a space like a metal or PVC pipe, can cause an explosive combustion due to highly generated heat and gases that cause a shockwave strong enough to rupture the container or cause burns and ocular injuries to anyone nearby.
Anil Solanki, a senior ophthalmologist at New Delhi’s Ganga Ram Hospital, told ThePrint that when the gas explodes, the carbide particles stick to the eye and cause a chemical burn on the cornea.
Solanki called it a chemical injury and not a mechanical one. He said that the chemical keeps damaging and necrotising the tissue. “In mild cases, we wash the eye immediately with a large amount of water, remove any stuck particles, and give steroids and antibiotics to control inflammation. But if the burn is severe, the cornea has to be replaced, which is quite serious,” he said.
In extreme cases, Solanki said that there can be permanent loss of eyesight. “If the cornea is severely damaged, even after treatment, the vision may not return,” adding that the cornea cannot be made artificially and is donated by the families of deceased individuals. “Patients have to register and wait for availability. The surgery cost depends on the hospital, but there is usually a waiting period.”
A 2023 research paper has warned that carbide guns are becoming a serious public health threat in India. Written by ophthalmologists studying festival-related eye injuries, the paper examined five young men from central India who suffered serious eye damage while using carbide guns, either bought cheaply from local markets or made at home.
The study found that all five had injuries in one eye, including swollen eyelids, redness, corneal burns, and tissue damage, with vision loss ranging from partial to complete blindness. The authors said the main reasons were careless handling, easy access, and lack of awareness about how dangerous these devices are.
According to the paper, when carbide reacts with water, it produces heat and calcium hydroxide, both of which can cause severe burns and chemical damage to the eyes. Many victims required amniotic membrane transplants, and some could eventually need stem cell or cornea transplants to restore their vision, procedures that are expensive and hard to afford for most families.
The researchers also pointed out how online videos and tutorials have made it easy for children and teenagers to learn how to make these guns using PVC or metal pipes and calcium carbide. “Because online information is helping spread the use of these guns among youngsters, there’s an urgent need to study and regulate such web content,” the paper read.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)