Supreme Court Seeks Timed Window for Firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, Rules Out Total Ban or All-Day Use
The Supreme Court has indicated it will neither impose a complete ban on firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region nor permit their use around the clock ahead of Diwali.
A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale said a balance must be struck between public health concerns and people’s sentiments. The judges observed that a total ban would affect festive feelings, while unrestricted use throughout the day would have a severe impact on the elderly, the sick, children and other living beings. They stated the need to find a solution that allows fireworks only during specified hours.
The remarks were made during a hearing in which the Centre proposed a limited relaxation for a category of next-generation joined green crackers developed with technical inputs from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted a note suggesting the court could permit these crackers subject to conditions on manufacture, chemical composition, noise levels and emissions.
Under the proposal, only duly licensed manufacturers would be allowed to produce them. The crackers would have to meet a prescribed noise limit of 125 dB(AI)/145 dB(C) peak and could not contain banned chemicals. The joined fireworks would use reduced quantities of barium salts with the aim of lowering emissions, in line with the category recommended by the research institute and subject to applicable safety, noise and emission standards.
The bench said it would examine the issue of barium use in firecrackers on October 15. The latest observations come against the backdrop of earlier court orders regulating the manufacture, sale and use of firecrackers in the region. Last year the court had permitted the sale and use of green firecrackers under conditions that restricted them to specified hours on the days before Diwali and on the festival itself, seeking to balance celebrations with concerns over air pollution and public health.