India’s top court backs limited relaxation for tested green crackers
India’s Supreme Court has accepted scientific recommendations for a limited and conditional relaxation allowing certain next-generation joined green crackers ahead of Deepavali. The products must meet noise, emissions and safety standards, use approved formulations and be manufactured only by licensed producers, while further testing continues.
India’s Supreme Court has accepted recommendations for a limited and conditional relaxation allowing the manufacture of next-generation joined green crackers ahead of the Deepavali festivities. The court’s decision on Wednesday followed submissions based on a report by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, or CSIR-NEERI. The proposed crackers must comply with prescribed noise, emissions and safety requirements.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told a Bench headed by Justice M.M. Sundresh that the products must conform to formulations tested and approved by the competent authority and be made only by duly licensed manufacturers. The recommendations include limits on shell size, the number of shells and the duration of bursting.
The crackers must remain within the prescribed noise limits of 125 dB(AI) and 145 dB(C) peak and must not contain banned chemical ingredients. CSIR-NEERI said tests showed a 30 per cent reduction in emissions compared with conventional joined crackers. Reducing shell size also lowered solid-waste generation by between 4 and 32 per cent, according to the report.
The next-generation products use altered formulations and bursting patterns. While conventional joined firecrackers can burst 25 braids in one second, the newer products complete five in a second, extending the bursting period. The court said it would seek a balance between concerns about air pollution and public sentiment, rejecting an indication that there would be a total nationwide ban.
It also said it would not permit continuous firing because of its effect on sick people, older people and children, and considered directing specific time windows. Further tests by the Central Pollution Control Board and the Union government are continuing. CSIR-NEERI is studying barium-related emissions in Bhopal, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, with the modelling expected to be completed by October 15.
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