SC signals rethink on crackers, allows production of green ones

WHILE ALLOWING PRODUCTION TO RESUME, THE SC REITERATED THAT SALES WOULD REMAIN BANNED IN DELHI AND NCR

- Utkarsh Anand and Abraham Thomas

NEW DELHI: Will there be fireworks in Delhi this Diwali? Ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court and the Commission for Air Quality Management, have signalled a shift from their earlier stance on firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region. On Friday, while continuing the ban on the sale and storage of firecrackers in the region, the court allowed licensed manufacturers in the region to resume production of certified green crackers, though on the strict condition that they will not be sold in the national capital and adjoining areas.

And CAQM, which recommends and oversees the implementation of measures to reduce pollution in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas, denied a conclusive link between firecrackers and pollution during the Friday hearing. With the Centre on Friday articulating its opposition to a complete ban on firecrackers, and the court asking the Union ministry of environment to submit a concrete proposal by October 8, there could still be a change before Diwali.

Friday's order, delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice Bhushan R Gavai and justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, came on a clutch of applications filed by firecracker manufacturers challenging the top court's April 3 blanket ban.

That order, passed in view of Delhi's "horrible" air quality, prohibited not only the bursting but also the manufacture, sale, and storage of crackers across Delhi and adjoining NCR districts in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The bench stressed that "extreme orders create extreme situations," stressing the need to balance the fundamental right to clean air with the livelihood concerns of thousands dependent on the fireworks industry.