Won’t impose total ban on firecrackers, nor allow unrestricted use: SC ahead of Diwali - The Indian Express
With Diwali, the festival of lights, only weeks away, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rooted for a balanced approach, saying it will neither impose a complete ban on firecrackers nor allow unrestricted use.
“We make it very clear. Neither we are going to agree with you for total ban, nor we are going to allow them to do it (burst firecrackers) for 24 hours … Total ban will affect sentiments. Allowing them throughout the day will have a huge impact on every other living beings including old people, sick people and children. We need to find a solution whereby we can give specified time and we can specify what are the crackers to be used,” Justice M M Sundresh, who was presiding over a two-judge bench, said.
The bench, also comprising A G Masih, accepted a recommendation to permit manufacture of new-generation joint firecrackers with smaller shell size and longer burst time after the government pointed out that studies by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) showed 30% decrease in emissions and 4-32% less solid waste generation. This is subject to them not using banned chemicals, sticking to noise levels and other regulatory measures.
The court, however, deferred considering the issue of firecracker restrictions in Delhi-NCR as similar questions did arise in the M C Mehta vs Union of India case — which is pending before a bench presided by the Chief Justice of India — and said they ought to be heard together.
The bench was hearing the Arjun Gopal vs Union of India case pertaining to the issue of air pollution generated by firecrackers, in which the Supreme Court had in October 2018 ruled that only crackers with reduced emission and green crackers which stick to permissible noise emission standards shall be manufactured and sold.
The top court, which has been monitoring the matter since, had on July 22 asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, “to get instructions from the Central Pollution Control Board on the query of the Court as to whether a partial relaxation with respect to certain types of crackers may be possible, with specific reference to noise”. And on September 2, it gave CSIR-NEERI two more weeks to carry out the proposed testing/study for this.
ASG Bhati on Wednesday informed the bench that NEERI, in its report ‘Interim Report on Green Firecrackers: Gen-2’, has said that “new generation firework formulations with reduced quantity of barium salts/nitrates in combination with other oxidizers achieved particulates emission (PM10 and PM2.5) reductions of 45- 60% as compared with conventional firecracker formulations.”
The report added that the use of reduced barium salts-based formulations also “reduced chemical/environmental footprint of barium as compared to conventional firecrackers”, Bhati said.
The Centre pointed out that pursuant to the court’s September 2 directions, NEERI has initiated the study in Bhopal, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai for the assessment of impact on ambient air quality due to Barium content in Generation-2 green firecrackers. “NEERI has informed that the modelling exercise for Bhopal has commenced and the modelling for the remaining selected cities … are being undertaken. CSIR-NEERI has informed that the study is expected to be completed by 15.10.2026,” Bhati said.
The government added that the outcome shall be placed before the court upon completion of the study.
