By Admin 
The Supreme Court has reserved its order on the sale of green firecrackers in Delhi NCR. The court has indicated that the use of green crackers can be allowed with conditions during Diwali.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of the Delhi government, recommended permission for green firecrackers and also gave some suggestions. In the suggestion, he said that the sale of green crackers certified by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization (PESO) should be allowed.
Delhi government suggests ban on stringed firecrackers should continue
He also said that the ban on manufacturing, sale and use of stringed firecrackers should continue and PESO and NEERI should regularly inspect the place of firecracker manufacturing so that only green firecrackers can be manufactured in the right formula. Delhi government also said in the suggestion that there is a need to adopt a balanced approach regarding firecrackers. Green crackers should be allowed on Diwali, Gurupurva and Christmas. It was also suggested that if the court wants, it can give instructions to burn green crackers on Diwali from 8 to 10 pm.
CJI Gavai asked- Did the ban on firecrackers improve AQI?
The bench of Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai (CJI BR Gavai) and Justice K Vinod Chandran asked whether the AQI has decreased since the year 2018 when firecrackers were banned. Tushar Mehta told that the AQI is almost the same as before, only the air quality had improved during Covid, but there were other reasons for it. Some other lawyers said that it is wrong to target only firecrackers by ignoring things like stubble and vehicle pollution.
During the hearing, Tushar Mehta said in a light tone that it takes an hour for children to convince their parents to accompany them to burn crackers, hence, there should not be any time limit on the festival.
Who gets permission to sell firecrackers?
The lawyer of the cracker manufacturers said that in 2017, the Supreme Court had said to allow only green crackers, but later banned it completely. Green firecrackers have been developed only on the orders of the court. They should get permission. Justice K Vinod Chandran said that NEERI and PESO have given certificates to only 49 producers. On this, SG Mehta said that in our suggestion we are saying that only these 49 should be allowed, but children should be given a chance to be happy on the festival.
Why ban other states just because of one city?
The lawyer of the firecracker manufacturers said, ‘We will give firecrackers only to 25-30 wholesalers. This will also be controlled. A lawyer said that due to the problem of just one city (Delhi), firecrackers were banned in 14 cities of Haryana, eight of UP and two of Rajasthan. These states were not even heard.