Green crackers cause less noise pollution, say experts

Neha Saini

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Amritsar, October 5

Green crackers have remained the buzzword during every Diwali season for the last few years. Considering a significant increase in air pollution during the Diwali festival, several states have allowed the use of green crackers for limited hours. While the concept of green crackers was introduced by the CSIR-National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in 2018, we talk to experts to know how green these crackers are.

Prof Adarsh Pal Vig, a GNDU faculty, who is also Chairman of Punjab Pollution Control Board, says that crackers made without using any of the heavy metals, which were banned in 2018, can be termed as green crackers. “Use of dangerous elements like lead, chromium, barium, arsenic, lithium, etc were banned while manufacturing crackers.

“Green crackers are produced with less harmful raw materials like sulphur, carbon, potassium nitrate, etc. They also have reduced quantities or zero ash and produce 30% less emissions. Though still impactful on the climate to some extent, these green crackers are considered less harmful than traditional crackers,” he said. He says that unlike traditional crackers, green crackers also cause less noise pollution due to their chemical composition.

Dr MS Bhatti, of Department of Environment Sciences, GNDU, says though green crackers, despite being eco-friendly, cannot be given a clean chit. They limit emissions of harmful metals like lead, arsenic, barium, etc, into the environment and soil or water resources. “While there is not enough research on how green are these crackers, their impact on climate and natural resources is restricted,” he says.

Dr Vig says that the PPCB has set up teams to keep a watch on the sale and manufacturing of crackers other than green crackers.

As the Chandigarh administration has allowed the use of green crackers for two hours after a ban of two years, the Amritsar administration too is going to announce its decision on the sale of crackers ahead of the festive season. Only government-registered shops are allowed to sell green crackers.