The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the sale and bursting of “green firecrackers” in Delhi-NCR, modifying a ban imposed last year to curb pollution.
The apex court had in 2018 imposed a complete ban on conventional crackers, allowing only “green crackers” whose production and sale remained patchy at best, encouraging illegal smuggling of conventional crackers. This led the apex court to ban even green crackers last year.
On Wednesday, the bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran allowed the joint request of the Centre and the Delhi government and the pleas of manufacturers of green crackers seeking relaxations.
The bench said the court needed to strike a balance between environmental concerns and the livelihood of thousands of workers dependent on the cracker industry.
“We also take note of the concerns raised by the state of Haryana. It is their contention that out of the 22 districts..., 14 districts fall within NCR. It is, therefore, the contention that almost 70 per cent of the state is affected by the ban on firecrackers. A similar plea was also raised on behalf of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan,” the bench said.
“It is further to be noted that to the query as to whether there was a substantial difference in the AQI (air quality index) in the year 2018 and 2024 when the ban was imposed, it has been fairly stated that there is not much difference...,” it added.
Some of the directions issued by the court:
- Sale of green crackers, as uploaded on the website of NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute), shall be permitted from October 18 to October 20, the Diwali day
- Sale of green crackers shall be permitted only from designated locations in NCR, which shall be identified by district collectors in consultation with the superintendent of police and given wide publicity
- Police authorities, in consultation with the district administration, shall constitute patrolling teams to keep a vigil on designated locations of sale
- Officers nominated by pollution control boards of NCR states will be part of patrolling teams
- Patrol teams shall conduct regular reconnaissance in the designated sites to ensure that only the permitted products are sold. They shall also take random samples for analysis, which shall be transmitted to PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation)
- In case of violations noticed, the licences of manufacturers shall stand cancelled
- District administration and police shall ensure that use of firecrackers is confined between 6am and 7am and 8pm and 10pm on the two days (on Diwali and the day before)
- The sale shall be only through licensed traders of green crackers manufactured by those who are registered with NEERI and have obtained a licence from PESO
- There shall be no firecrackers allowed into the NCR region from outside the said region
- The use of firecrackers with barium and those not approved by the NEERI as green crackers shall not be permitted. If found for sale or in the possession of individuals/traders, the same shall be confiscated immediately