Apart from types of firecrackers to be used, Supreme Court also detailed when and where to burst them; order made applicable pan-India
Going green this Diwali, the Supreme Court on Tuesday introduced green and improved crackers as a necessary alternative to the smoky, light emitting polluting crackers that had a horrible impact on public health and made Delhi's air heavy laden with noxious gases and harmful chemicals.
Not stopping at just the type of crackers to be used, the bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan even advised the entire country when and where to burst crackers. The Court directed that henceforth, not just on Diwali day, but on all religious festivals, crackers shall be burst from 8 to 10 pm at designated fields or areas meant for community fireworks. An exception was made for Christmas and New Year Day when crackers shall be permitted for 35 minutes from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am. This order was made applicable pan-India.
As regards community firework, the Court directed Delhi and state governments of NCR to identify fields/areas for bursting crackers and publicise the same a week before Diwali. This part of the order was made optional for other states in the country. The designated areas will serve good for bursting of crackers during other religious festivals. This order was extended even to marriages where only eco-friendly crackers will be allowed.
Earlier, in July 2005, the Supreme Court had refused to impose time and space restrictions on the bursting of firecrackers. The rule was that crackers could not be burst during night hours from 10 pm to 6 am. As regards places, the Court had then directed that except for silence zones, crackers could be burst. Hence, Tuesday's order was unprecedented.
After the Centre assured the Court that it was in the process of developing eco-friendly or green crackers, the bench ordered that any cracker that failed to fit this standard cannot be produced or sold across the country. The first category of crackers that went off the shelf was series crackers or the popular laris which created huge air and noise pollution besides adding to the solid waste management. The next to fall off were the green sparking fireworks made out of barium salts, crackers containing ash as filling material and charcoal beyond standards set by Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO).
In addition, Court directed PESO to study the harmful impact of aluminium, another compound present in fireworks, and report in two weeks. Crackers approved by PESO only can be sold by licensed traders and no e-commerce website including Flipkart, Amazon, etc will be allowed to sell crackers online. Violation of this order will attract fine from Court besides contempt of court proceedings. Court further entrusted PESO to dispose of stock of crackers not conforming to the standards prescribed by it. While states and Centre were asked to carry out a massive public awareness campaign on harmful effects of crackers, pollution control boards at Centre/State level were directed to conduct short-term monitoring on ambient air quality over a week prior and after Diwali.
Can’t Obey Time Limits, Says BJP MP
- BJP MP Chintamani Malviya has challenged SC verdict saying he’ll burst crackers after puja as no time limits can be set.
- Terming the order ‘unacceptable’, he said: “Such curbs were not even in Mughal times. It’s unacceptable.”
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