Delhi-NCR may witness ‘Pathake vali Diwali’ in 2025, unlike previous years when a strict firecracker ban was in place, restricting residents from bursting crackers. The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on whether to allow the use of green crackers or impose a ban on firecrackers in the region.
According to LiveLaw, a bench led by CJI BR Gavai and Justice K Vino Chandran heard the matter in the MC Mehta case concerning air quality in the National Capital Region. Earlier, on April 3, a bench comprising two judges imposed a year-long ‘blanket ban’ on firecrackers, including green crackers.
While withholding the order, the CJI discussed the possibility of lifting the ban during Diwali. Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, seeking the lifting of time restrictions, said, “I would respectfully urge the timing – when we were children, at least 1 hour would go convincing the parents to come out as they would not allow us to do it alone- there should not be any restrictions on the timing, at least for a few days. Let children celebrate with fervour.”
8-Point Proposed Guidelines Proposed By Delhi NCR, Haryana
- Only green crackers approached by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) shall be allowed
- Joint Crackers, Lardis are not manufactured, sold, or used in the National Capital Regions (NCR)
- Sales shall be through licensed traders, and the selling by permitted manufacturers only
- NCR State Government, GNCTD, and PESO to ensure that no e-commerce website, such as Flipkart, Amazon, etc, shall accept any online orders and promote any sales.
- Only during Diwali or any other festivals, the bursting of crackers should be strictly allowed from 8 to 10 PM. For Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the time should be from 11.55 pm to 12:30 am, and for Gurpurab, from 4 to 5 AM and 9 to 10 PM.
- Green Crackers are to be developed after approval of the NEERI and PESO. The manufacturers are to create QR codes of the green products and submit it to NEERI and PESO
- Strict action against the manufacturing of unapproved crackers, including suspension of license, immediate seizure of the manufacturing sites
- Periodic checking by PESO, NEERI, GNCTD, and State PCBs of firecracker samples to check the presence of banned chemicals like barium, lithium, arsenic, antimony, lead, and mercury
