Supreme Court declares cracker of a Diwali in Delhi-NCR

Supreme Court declares cracker of a Diwali in Delhi-NCR

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will allow the sale and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) for five days during Diwali, marking what could be the Capital’s first festival season with legal fireworks in years despite concerns from environmental experts and amicus curiae about enforcement gaps.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran reserved its order after the Union government proposed firecrackers be allowed under a tightly regulated framework permitting only “green firecrackers” approved by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

But, the bench stated: “For the time being, we will allow it during the five days of Diwali on a trial basis…However, we will confine it to certain time limits”.

The remark came after the Centre, represented by solicitor General Tushar Mehta, submitted a detailed enforcement plan restricting sales to licensed traders and barring online platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon from facilitating firecracker sales in Delhi-NCR. Traditional crackers would remain banned, the government promised, even as it sought that the relaxation be for all festivals.

The government proposed strict time windows: 8pm to 10pm on Diwali and major festivals, 11.55pm to 12.30am on New Year’s Eve, and one-hour slots morning and evening for Gurpurab. Firecrackers could also be used for weddings and personal occasions, it submitted.

During the hearing, Mehta requested the court relax Diwali timings, arguing children should not be restricted to two hours of celebration. “It is a matter of a few days on Diwali. Let children celebrate Diwali with fervour,” the solicitor general said.

Experts have repeatedly raised alarm over such a move, citing the two-year period between 2018 and 2020 when a similar policy for green firecrackers yielded no reduction in air pollution levels, and argued that on the ground, it was virtually impossible to distinguish between such products and conventional firecrackers. And children and old people are the worst sufferers of air pollution. While weather and wind conditions, and farm waste burning, mostly in Punjab, are responsible for the rise in air pollution in the region at this time of the year, the use of fireworks — even green crackers are polluting, although by around a third less than normal crackers — causes a temporary spike in and around Diwali.

Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at think-tank Envirocatalysts said bursting of green firecrackers could potentially set back by 10 years the fight against air in Delhi.

“We need to control all sources of pollution at the source, including episodic events such as firecracker bursting — which lead to a spike in air pollution,” said Dahiya, stating if meteorological conditions were unfavourable, the impact can linger for days. “For long-term gains, we also need to control stubble burning as well as perennial sources such as transport emissions, power generation, industries, waste and construction sector,” he added.

Senior advocate Uttara Babbar, assisting the court as amicus curiae, warned the government’s enforcement plan amounted to “lip service,” noting that the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) has no testing facilities in Delhi to verify products in the market.

To be sure, the so-called green firecracker formulation offer limited benefits. These products, compared to conventional fireworks, replace barium nitrate with zeolites, reduce aluminum content, and add dust suppressants. NEERI claims these modifications cut emissions by 30-35% compared to traditional crackers but experts say even these reductions are too modest, and mass usage is likely to diminish any gains further.

Mukesh Khare, an air pollution expert from IIT Delhi, said poor implementation has been the downfall of Delhi in the past. “In the guise of green firecrackers, even conventional ones are burst which offsets any gains you may get from only green crackers. Even if we had only green firecrackers, the sheer number will still lead to a spike in pollution levels,” Khare said.

The court’s reversal comes barely five months after another bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka reaffirmed Delhi’s firecracker ban — extended to NCR states in April — insisting there was no scope for relaxation unless the green firecrackers caused “bare minimum” pollution. The CJI-led bench noted on Friday that this raised issues of judicial propriety, as a 2018 ruling in the Arjun Gopal case had permitted community fireworks and green crackers with stipulations.

“When the subject matter is the same, they should be heard together,” the bench said, questioning whether data showed substantial improvement in Delhi’s air quality index between 2018 and 2024 to justify the April 3 order that cited the Capital’s “horrible” air quality.

The blanket ban on firecrackers in the capital has had little enforcement. While post-Diwali pollution levels depend partly on weather and timing—pollution lingers longer when the festival falls in November’s colder air compared to October’s warmer weeks—data shows the revelry consistently triggers a sharp deterioration in air quality.

Last year, data from 40 monitoring stations recorded severe spikes in fine particulate matter from around 6pm, peaking between 11pm and 2am. Vivek Vihar in East Delhi recorded 1,853 micrograms per cubic metre at midnight—more than 120 times the World Health Organisation’s safe limit of 15µg/m³. Nearby Patparganj reached 1,504, and Nehru Nagar in South Delhi touched 1,527.

The Centre’s enforcement plan requires manufacturers to submit product-specific QR codes to the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation and state pollution control boards, maintain detailed production and sales records, and conduct regular emissions testing.

PESO and state authorities would conduct surprise inspections at manufacturing, storage and retail sites, with penalties including licence suspension and closure for violations.

Public awareness campaigns would educate citizens on approved crackers and health hazards, with platforms like the Sameer App and Green Delhi App allowing grievance redressal. NEERI and PESO would maintain updated lists of approved crackers and manufacturers, while CSIR-NEERI would continue research on lower-emission crackers.

Authorities would also conduct source apportionment studies to gauge fireworks’ contribution to Delhi’s air pollution, with continuous monitoring by the Central Pollution Control Board and local boards, the government proposed.

The court acknowledged testing facilities could not be established overnight but suggested random sampling. It also highlighted the plight of firecracker industry workers, noting many were from marginalised groups whose livelihoods were at stake.

Senior advocate K Parameshwar, representing firecracker manufacturers, suggested authorities earmark specific sale points for wholesalers and retailers so compliance could be verified efficiently.

Last month, the court allowed manufacturers holding valid NEERI and PESO certifications to resume production but prohibited sales in the NCR, emphasising a blanket ban without robust enforcement was not sustainable. The Commission for Air Quality Management had highlighted monitoring gaps, noting instances where QR codes were sold to unlicensed producers and no system existed to verify whether certified crackers were being sold.

Article source: hindustantimes.com