The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the use of “specified next generation joint green crackers” while refusing to impose a total ban on firecrackers, saying such a prohibition would hurt public sentiments, even as it gave the Centre and expert bodies time till October 15 to complete their assessment of the impact of barium content in other green crackers on ambient air quality.
Advocate Pooja Dhar, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that this court had specifically banned firecrackers containing barium and had disapproved of green-cracker formulations that included the chemical. A bench of justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale said the court would neither permit a blanket ban on firecrackers nor allow their unrestricted use for 24 hours, stressing the need to strike a balance between environmental concerns and public sentiment. “We will neither allow a total ban nor will we allow 24 hours bursting of crackers everywhere. A total ban will hurt certain sentiments and allowing 24 hours will have a huge impact on people, including old people, sick persons and children,” it observed. The court’s order came on a petition filed in 2015 by three minors, including Arjun Gopal, seeking a complete ban on firecrackers across the country on account of their impact on air quality and the consequent health risks, particularly for children and senior citizens. Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati told the court that the expert bodies were of the view that the new-generation joint crackers could be used as they recorded noise levels below 125 decibels, significantly lower than conventional crackers, which generate noise levels ranging between 140 and 160 decibels, besides the fact that they did not use barium in their compositions. The Centre and the expert bodies have now been given time till October 15 to complete the assessment.
Bhati told the court that open-ground tests were required to assess the actual impact of barium content on ambient air quality.
The court’s permission for the next-generation joint crackers comes after it had, earlier this month, asked the Centre to examine whether a limited exemption from the existing restrictions could be worked out ahead of the festive season.
