Brace for a polluted Diwali now, warn experts after Supreme Court order

Experts point out that ‘green crackers’ are unavailable in the market and limiting celebrations to two hours will be a challenge.

Experts on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict on firecrackers but warned that pollution levels in the city would shoot up again a day after Diwali celebrations.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said people can burst firecrackers from 8.00pm to 10.00pm on Diwali and other festivals, while allowing the manufacture and sale of just ‘green crackers’ — which have low emission of light, sound and harmful chemicals. (HT/Photo for Representation)

“The judiciary has done its job and it is a welcome order. But under the garb of ‘green crackers’, polluting fireworks and crackers that were banned in 2017-Diwali are likely to hit the market again. Besides this, it would be difficult to contain the celebrations to the two-hour window as mandated by the apex court. This could lead to spike in pollution levels after the celebrations,” said Mukhesh Khare, a professor of environmental engineering at the IIT-Delhi.

Experts also claimed that no ‘green crackers’ were available in the market. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that people in the country can burst firecrackers from 8.00pm to 10.00pm on Diwali and other festivals, while allowing the manufacture and sale of just ‘green crackers’ — which have low emission of light, sound and harmful chemicals.

Delhi celebrated its cleanest Diwali in three years in 2017 after the Supreme Court banned the sale of crackers in the NCR.

In 2017, the level of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) shot up alarmingly the morning after Diwali celebrations. By 11 am, the overall PM2.5 in Delhi had shot up at least nine times above the permissible limit of 60ug/m3. According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), PM2.5 levels had shot up to 574ug/m3.

“Some premier laboratories like IISER and NEERI have already come up with pollution-free fireworks. But they are yet to hit the markets,” said Samrat Ghosh, assistant professor of chemical sciences at IISER, Mohali, who developed India’s first prototype of a smokeless firecracker.

Experts apprehend that with no ‘green crackers’ available, the old ones which have toxic chemicals such as chromium, barium, nickel and strontium will again be burnt this year. “The Supreme Court’s order would pave the way for a less-polluted Diwali in the coming years as it would promote manufacture of fireworks and crackers that cause less pollution,” said D Saha, former head of the air quality laboratory at the Central Pollution Control Board.