E-Paper
2-hr window to burst green crackers in Punjab on Diwali, Gurpurb
The Punjab government on Tuesday announced a two-hour window to burst green firecrackers on Diwali and Gurpurb across the state, barring Jalandhar and Mandi Gobindgarh, where a total ban has been imposed from the midnight of October 28 onwards on account of poor air quality index (AQI) levels
The Punjab government on Tuesday announced a two-hour window to burst green firecrackers on Diwali and Gurpurb across the state, barring Jalandhar and Mandi Gobindgarh, where a total ban has been imposed from the midnight of October 28 onwards on account of poor air quality index (AQI) levels. The fireworks timing has been restricted to 35 minutes on the Christmas and New Year Eve.
The government has allowed only green crackers (without barium salt), which are in compliance with the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), as well as various judicial orders passed amid reports of firecrackers likely to aggravate the Covid problem, read the orders passed by the department of science and technology.
The order says that while on Diwali (November 4), people can burst green crackers between 8pm and 10 pm, on Gurpurab (November 19), from 4 am to 5am and from 11.55pm to 12.30am, on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve from 11.55pm to 12.30am.
Only licensed traders will be allowed to sell firecrackers, the order reads.
The sale and use of any kind of firecrackers is prohibited in Mandi Gobindgarh and Jalandhar from the midnight of October 28-29 till midnight of December 31, reads the order.
The order also directed the state government to promote community cracker busting to check pollution.
What are green crackers?
Green crackers are low-emission fireworks permitted by the Supreme Court for celebrations to a moderate degree during festivals, relaxing the complete ban on fireworks previously imposed in 2017
Green crackers, researched and developed by experts at the CSIR-NEERI (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute), a government-funded research institute in the field of environmental science, have a small shell size compared to normal crackers
Green crackers are produced with less harmful raw materials, in accordance with instructions issued by the top court, and are made in a way that suppresses the dust when they are burnt – thus reducing emissions
They also do not contain harmful chemicals such as lithium, arsenic, barium, and lead and instead release water vapour that does not allow the dust to rise
Though still impactful on the climate to an extent, the green crackers are believed to cause 30% less particulate matter pollution than traditional crackers and are thus considered generally less harmful than their conventional alternatives
