Green only in colour: Firecrackers flood Delhi markets amid festive season, rising AQI

Vendors are using labels such as “green crackers” and “zero pollution”, but several products lacked QR codes to help buyers verify their certification.

A box of 10 rockets for ₹350, four packs of spinners for ₹800 and two packs of fountain bombs for ₹450 were among the firecrackers bought by 15-year-old Chirag at Sadar Bazaar on Monday. He had come to one of the Capital’s largest firecracker markets with a friend, hoping to beat the Diwali rush and score the best deals.

A 15-year-old bought 15 boxes of firecrackers for ₹3,000 at Sadar Bazaar after waiting around 20 minutes. (HT Photo)

After a 20-minute wait, he walked away with his haul – 15 boxes for just ₹3,000.

The ease with which teenagers could purchase firecrackers, including products not openly displayed, would be unremarkable in an ordinary festive season. In Delhi, however, it raised questions about enforcement, accountability and the meaning of environmental restrictions in a city where the air quality index has already started plummeting ahead of what is like to be yet another spell of winter toxic air.

Firecrackers on sale ahead of Diwali

With more than two weeks to go before Diwali, firecrackers are being sold openly across the Capital, even as the Delhi government is yet to notify its decision on their sale and use. A visit by HT to three major markets -- Jama Masjid, Sadar Bazaar and Shakti Nagar -- found vendors displaying products labelled “green crackers”, “pollution-free” and “zero pollution”, while other firecrackers were available on request, often from nearby warehouses or concealed stocks.

Last year, after several years of a blanket ban, the Supreme Court permitted regulated sales between October 18 and 20, with bursting allowed only on October 19 and 20, during specified morning and evening hours. Yet, as HT reported, the restrictions were widely violated.

The consequences of firecracker use are not abstract. On Wednesday, a day after Dussehra celebrations, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) worsened from 179 at 4pm on Tuesday to 245 at the same time the following day. Experts attributed much of the deterioration to widespread firecracker use during Dussehra, which added to the city’s pollution burden.

Firecrackers sold openly weeks before Diwali, in Delhi.

Questions over ‘green’ cracker claims

Visits to markets weeks before Diwali show that the distinction between permission on paper and what is happening on the ground is stark.

Outside Gate No 3 of Jama Masjid, at least 10 carts lined the lane, displaying firecrackers with labels promising “pollution-free” celebrations.

HT purchased six such boxes of firecrackers from the market. Only two carried QR codes. While one could not be scanned despite repeated attempts, the other linked to a PDF catalogue listing products on offer.

A QR code is meant to help verify that a firecracker is a certified green cracker approved by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).

But, on the ground and in the market, neither sellers nor buyers appeared particularly concerned about adherence to rules.

To ensure no digital trail is left behind, most shopkeepers refused to accept digital payments or provide receipts.

For young buyers, the colour of the packaging was enough. Gaurav, 13, who was shopping in Chandni Chowk with his mother and younger brother, pointed to a green parrot and a “zero pollution” label on a box.

“The colour of the packaging is also green. This means it will not impact the environment,” he said.

That assumption is precisely the problem. A green label is not proof of certification, and a product marketed as environment friendly is not necessarily harmless. When verification is difficult and enforcement is barely visible, the label risks becoming a marketing device rather than a meaningful safeguard.

A street vendor, who requested anonymity, said he had been selling firecrackers in the area for three weeks. “I am only selling small crackers for children; the bigger ones will be allowed a few days before Diwali,” he said.

Behind the carts, several established shops remained shuttered. Some have operated for four or five decades. The owner of Majestic Fireworks said the business typically remained closed for a month around Dussehra and Diwali, but customers were encouraged to purchase firecrackers in advance and store them.

He handed HT his visiting card and suggested returning after October 29.

Hidden stocks and sales across markets

At Sadar Bazaar, firecracker sellers could be spotted every 100 metres. One vendor said he was already selling firecrackers worth ₹2.5 lakh to ₹3 lakh daily for the past 25 days.

A nearby shop that usually sells home decor had also begun dealing in firecrackers. Its owner, Anish, said deliveries through porters were available for orders exceeding ₹10,000. If a consignment was intercepted during delivery, he said, responsibility would rest with the customer. He collected payment upfront, with delivery charges paid separately.

The market, he said, catered to festivals throughout the year, switching between Christmas decorations, Holi colours and Diwali firecrackers.

HT’s purchases from the two markets found that sparklers were openly displayed, while rockets and spinners were generally kept out of sight. One vendor said larger products were not displayed because they were not green crackers, but could be arranged quickly from a warehouse five minutes away.

At Shakti Nagar, where several shops have been operating for decades, firecrackers were kept behind thick plastic sheets. Shopkeepers offered photographs of products and said stock could be shown to established customers.

The contrast between what was displayed and what could be obtained suggests that keeping certain products off counters does not necessarily mean they are unavailable.

Sunil Jain, president of the Delhi Fireworks Association, which has 150 members holding permanent licences, said firecrackers were being sold rampantly without checks. “We are licensed traders who have been in this business for generations, yet we are waiting for the court’s permission to sell. Meanwhile, traditional firecrackers from the Delhi-NCR region have already entered the city,” he said.

Jain warned that even if licensed traders were permitted to sell under restrictions, distinguishing between traditional and green crackers would be difficult, potentially compromising any assessment of their environmental impact.

Environmental impact of firecrackers

Dipankar Saha, former head of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s air laboratory, and one of the scientists who developed green crackers in 2018, said no firecrackers are green when it comes to impact on the environment. “No firecrackers are green, it’s a misnomer. Yes, it produces least possible emissions upon its burning. Again, the quality of emissions depends on types of burning, complete burning produces mostly carbon dioxide, water vapour, fine and semi-fine particulate matters. Fine particulates remain suspended for a longer time as compared to semi-fine particulates,” said Saha. “Both are transported by the wind and dispersion is dependent on wind speed and moisture content of the atmosphere. The semifine particulates travels faster than microfine particulates. This is called the retention time in the atmosphere, which creates problems with respect to the respiratory system of humans, choking the stomata of plants, haze in the atmosphere etc.”