9 days to D-Day: The fault in Centre’s ‘green cracker’ plan

The Centre’s framework aims to ensure only less-polluting crackers reach markets. But the infrastructure to make that happen – testing labs, certification systems, and on-ground inspection – is almost non-existent in Delhi, experts warned.

Even as the Supreme Court is expected to clear the decks for “green fireworks” under the Centre’s new guidelines next week, experts warn that Delhi may simply not be equipped to enforce them — especially with barely ten days left for Diwali.

Most worryingly, Delhi’s past attempts to regulate crackers have failed miserably. Despite years of bans, the city’s skies have turned grey every Diwali night. (HT)

The Centre’s framework aims to ensure only less-polluting crackers reach markets. But the infrastructure to make that happen – testing labs, certification systems, and on-ground inspection – is almost non-existent in Delhi, experts warned. Enforcement officials are stretched, verification apps have already been compromised, and fake “green” labels are common.

Most worryingly, Delhi’s past attempts to regulate crackers have failed miserably. Despite years of bans, the city’s skies have turned grey every Diwali night.

“We have seen even when green firecrackers were allowed in the past, that conventional firecrackers were being burst. QR codes did not help and agencies simply turned a blind-eye,” said environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari.

Under the plan submitted to the Supreme Court, only companies certified by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) can manufacture green crackers. Sales will be restricted to licensed vendors, each product linked to a specific QR code traceable to the manufacturer.

In practice, experts warned that it will be nearly almost impossible to implement in the city. For starters, the Capital has no dedicated testing facility to confirm which firecrackers are genuinely “green.” The city’s enforcement teams – Delhi Police, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), and local authorities – are already overstretched. Meanwhile, the QR verification system, designed to flag fake products, has reportedly been cloned by unlicensed producers.

“Anything that involves combustion cannot be truly green, but it has lesser harmful chemicals, including barium or aluminium,” said Dipankar Saha, former head of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air laboratory and one of the scientists involved in developing green firecrackers in 2018. “The problem in recent years hasn’t been the science – it’s implementation.”

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Friday maintained that the government was “ready” to act once the Supreme Court passes its order. He said Delhi had sought a one-hour window each in the day and evening for bursting green crackers on Diwali, and another one-hour slot for Gurpurab.

“Everyone has a right to celebrate festivals the way they want. We have assured the court that if green crackers are permitted, Delhi will strictly implement the rules,” Sirsa said.

Officials in the environment department said their enforcement plan involves coordination among Delhi Police, DPCC, the revenue department, and local police stations. A central control room will be set up to handle citizen complaints, and reporting through apps such as Sameer and Green Delhi will be encouraged.

But past experience suggests these mechanisms rarely work. In previous years, citizens flooded these apps with hundreds of violations – none of which translated into visible on-ground action.

Delhi’s record on cracker enforcement is dismal. The first major restrictions came in 2017, when the SC suspended sales to study their impact on air quality. In 2018 and 2019, limited use of green firecrackers was allowed, but police and local officials failed to distinguish them from conventional ones. Even during years of a complete ban, violations were rampant.

Each year, pollution levels spike sharply the morning after Diwali – with PM2.5 levels often soaring several times above safe limits. Yet, arrests and fines have been negligible.

Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at the think-tank Envirocatalysts, said the current approach appears driven more by religious sentiment than public health. “The health narrative is completely missing. Earlier allowing the manufacturing and now hinting at allowing bursting of the green crackers in Delhi-NCR has definitely taken us 10 years back in our fight for clean air,” Dahiya said.

Green crackers were first developed in 2018 by CSIR-NEERI, which introduced three variants – SWAS (Safe Water Releaser), STAR (Safe Thermite Cracker), and SAFAL (Safe Minimal Aluminium). These versions eliminate potassium nitrate and sulphur, reducing particulate matter and gas emissions by 30-40%.

But scientists stress that “less polluting” doesn’t mean “non-polluting.” NEERI’s own guidelines acknowledge that the goal is to reduce – not eliminate – emissions.

A NEERI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while all certified crackers bear a QR code and logo, the responsibility for on-ground enforcement lies with local authorities. “Our role ends with certification. Once the products leave the factories, it’s up to the police and pollution boards to check misuse,” the official said.

On the ground, confusion and challenges

For traders, the expected order offers a mixed bag of hope and frustration. Delhi has only around 150 permanent firecracker licence holders, concentrated in markets such as Sadar Bazar, Defence Colony, Janakpuri, Rajouri Garden, Preet Vihar, Dwarka, and Shahdara.

Temporary licences – typically granted to hundreds of seasonal vendors – take nearly three months to process. With the festival less than two weeks away, new sellers cannot legally operate this season.

“There are very few permanent licence holders,” said Narendra Gupta, president of the Fireworks Traders’ Welfare Association. “Earlier, around 450-500 temporary licences were issued for the Diwali period. But applications had to be filed months in advance. We are hoping that the final orders come timely so that if the green crackers are being allowed, we get sufficient time for next Diwali.”

Rajeev Jain, a member of the Delhi Firecrackers Traders Association, said only a handful of authorised shops will be able to sell genuine green crackers this year. “Those who usually buy firecrackers know where the licensed shops are. Green crackers are already being made in UP and Haryana – they can reach Delhi within hours once permitted,” he said.

However, given past patterns, experts fear illegal traders will rush in to fill the gap, flooding the markets with unverified products falsely labelled as “green.”

Residents and health experts say the debate over whether crackers are green or not misses the point that Delhi’s air is already among the most toxic in the world. “Even so-called green crackers still release harmful pollutants,” said Chetan Sharma, general secretary of the Confederation of RWAs and chairman of the Greater Kailash-II RWA. “Allowing them so close to winter, when the city’s air quality is at its worst, is reckless. The government must ensure fake or duplicate crackers aren’t passed off as green.”