Forty-one-year-old Sheena Suresh obtained the tender for carrying out 'Vedi vazhipadu' (cracker-offering) at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala, but she is unable to be physically present at the shrine owing to the restrictions on the entry of women in 10-50 age group to the hill shrine.
She supervises her husband from afar even though he does not hold an explosives licence.
The issue has triggered a row as some people alleged that lack of proper supervision led to a fire mishap at the cracker-offering unit on Monday, causing burns to three workers. The district administration has stopped cracker-offering at the temple because of the accident.
Sheena, who had received much attention by leading the fireworks at the Thrissur pooram last May, had won the tender for one year, starting last November.
Travancore Devaswom Board president K Anandagopan told DH she was awarded the tender since she quoted the best rate. It was not possible to deny the tender to her, citing her gender, as it could lead to allegations of discrimination, he added.
He also said that since the woman could not visit the hill shrine, given the age restriction on women, she had given power of attorney to another person present at Sabarimala to supervise the cracker offering. This was done after obtaining a legal opinion, he said.
However, some officials said that the tender norms stipulated that the licensee winning the tender should supervise the cracker offering work personally.
Sheena was not available for comments. Her husband told DH that he held an explosives license earlier but doesn't hold one currently. It had to be transferred owing to personal reasons, he said.
He also said that an unexpected breeze was also a reason for the fire mishap at Sabarimala.
A preliminary enquiry reportedly found that a spark fell on the stash of firecrackers that were kept ready for the offering, and it caused the mishap. The carelessness of the workers was also cited in the report.
Meanwhile, Thrissur-based Heritage Animal Task Force secretary V K Venkitachalam had filed a petition with the Thrissur district collector urging that Sheena should not be given permission to conduct fireworks in temples in the district because of the mishap at Sabarimala.