Ban firecrackers

NOT for the first time, the no-holds-barred bursting of firecrackers on Diwali night turned New Delhi into a gas chamber, with the air quality index (AQI) rising to the ‘hazardous’ level of 400-plus on Monday morning, according to Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. The Supreme Court had clarified last week that its order banning the use of barium and banned chemicals in firecrackers was applicable not just to the National Capital Region but to the entire country. However, the apex court’s directions literally went up in smoke yet again — in Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Mumbai and other cities — as banned firecrackers were stocked, sold and set alight. It was in October 2018 that the court had prohibited the production and sale of all crackers except the ‘green’ ones and those with reduced emissions (‘improved’ crackers). Days later, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research had claimed to have developed less-polluting firecrackers which were also cheaper than those of the conventional kind.

Amid Delhi’s suffocating smog — with Anand Vihar’s AQI reportedly shooting up to 969 in the wee hours of Monday — one thing is crystal clear: the campaign for the ‘greenification’ of firecrackers has come a cropper. Highly polluting crackers are still making their way to the market — including illegally imported Chinese products with a fake ‘Made in India’ tag — while doubts are being raised about the efficacy of the green alternative in reducing pollution. The two-hour window to burst crackers has also proved to be a sham due to lax enforcement.

Nothing less than a blanket ban on all kinds of crackers would make a difference on the ground. The Supreme Court has stopped short of doing the needful out of deference to religious tradition and sentiments. But an unhealthy tradition that exposes people to toxic air needs to be done away with in public interest. A comprehensive package to compensate the fireworks industry and rehabilitate its labour force must be worked out.

#Diwali #Environment #Pollution #Supreme Court