Supreme Court Did Not Ban Firecrackers Across India, But..

The order from the Supreme Court regarding the firecrackers amid the rise in pollution has triggered a storm across the country. It was widespread that the Supreme Court ordered a ‘ban’ on all firecrackers across India. But the fact is the Supreme Court did not ban all the firecrackers but only specific ones.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stated that its ban on firecrackers containing barium and other dangerous chemicals was applicable to the whole country. It is not a ‘total ban’ but the sale of green crackers is allowed.

The SC also said that its previous order against the use of barium and banned chemicals in firecrackers was applicable across the country. In 2018, the apex court banned the production and sale of all crackers except ‘green crackers’ and those with reduced emissions. It also banned barium salts in fireworks and said their noise levels should be within permissible limits. At that time, the court had also set time slots for bursting crackers – between 8 pm and 10 pm on Diwali and between 11.55 pm and 12.30 am for New Year and Christmas.

In Maharashtra, the bursting of crackers has been limited to only three hours 7 pm to 10 pm until Diwali by the Bombay High Court. In Karnataka, it is limited to only 8 pm to 10 pm. Telangana, Punjab, and West Bengal allow only the sale of green crackers.

What are Green Crackers?

Green Crackers are low-emission crackers free of harmful chemicals like Sulphur nitrates, arsenic, magnesium, sodium, lead, and barium. Green crackers are also less noise polluting. It is said that regular crackers emit about 160 decibels of sound, whereas green crackers have a sound level of 110-125 decibels.