NEW DELHI: With its order banning crackers in Delhi and NCR openly breached during last Diwali, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to devise by Oct 8 a mechanism in consultation with stakeholders to ensure production and sale of only green crackers.A bench of CJI B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria said if the ban on bursting of crackers in Delhi NCR could not be enforced, it would be proper to allow sale of green crackers, which conform to norms devised by NEERI and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).SC for approach that safeguards both air quality and livelihoods Firecracker manufacturers through senior advocates Balbir Singh and K Parameswara pleaded for resumption of production of green crackers, saying workers are jobless. The Union govt, through additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, did not support a ban on green crackers.Amicus curiae Aparajita Singh told the bench that it is the enforcement which had been found to be lacking. There are instances where the green cracker manufacturing licence-holders sold labels to those producing non-green crackers, which emit noxious gases harmful to the infants, infirm and elderly, she said. The CJI-led bench said, “As experienced, the Supreme Court’s order imposing a complete ban on bursting of crackers could not be enforced. In one case where the SC banned mining, the illegal mafia took over and resorted to mining. Hence, it is necessary to adopt a balanced approach which safeguards both the ambient air quality and the livelihood of cracker unit workers.”The bench asked Bhati to communicate to the ministry of environment and forest to convene meeting of all stakeholders, and consult amicus curiae in arriving at a plan of action and mechanism to enforce green cracker only rule for Delhi and NCR, which from Diwali till major parts of the winter months get enveloped by a thick smog mainly because of burning of crop residue in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.SC permitted the manufacturers to commence production of green crackers strictly in conformity with the norms laid down by NEERI and PESO but barred them from selling these, for the time being, in Delhi-NCR. It said further orders on sale of these crackers in Delhi-NCR will be considered on Oct 8.The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) informed the SC that there appear to be gaps in monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. “A rigorous, transparent, and year-round enforcement and monitoring mechanism is required to oversee manufacturing, distribution and sale of firecrackers, whereby PESO and authorities must conduct random, surprise inspections and collect samples directly from firecracker manufacturing sites and selling premises for testing them to confirm whether they conform to the prescribed standards,” it said.CAQM said given the extraordinary air pollution situation in Delhi-NCR, CPCB and CSIR-NEERI must assess the contribution of firecrackers to air pollution.NEERI favoured allowing green crackers across India based on the air quality status of different cities and regions. According to NEERI, “The marketing of non-green fireworks should be controlled by PESO. CSIR-NEERI has provided a list of approved green firework manufacturers on its website. Any manufacturer not on the list and producing firecrackers should be making non-green (illegal) crackers, which require strict monitoring by the regulatory agency, PESO.”
