The return of green firecrackers in Delhi this Diwali did little to address a familiar problem—the inability to enforce restrictions on their use, or to establish whether the firecrackers being burst are actually green. Despite the Supreme Court allowing green firecrackers in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) between 6am and 7am and 8pm and 10pm for two days ahead of Diwali, fireworks continued well past midnight when a complete ban took effect. The fireworks added to pollution in a city struggling with hazardous air quality, leaving neighbourhoods covered in a thick haze.
Environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari, who has reported instances of illegal firecrackers being burst during Diwali to the Delhi Police in recent years, blamed the lack of will among authorities for making restrictions largely meaningless. Experts say that even if green firecrackers produce relatively lower emissions than conventional ones, they are far from pollution free. More importantly, there is little effective on-ground monitoring to distinguish between the two. The implementation of the curbs remained lax even beyond the permitted time window. The Supreme Court order was widely flouted. But green firecrackers still burn metal salts for their colours, and the claimed cuts apply to particulate matter. The court’s directions included provisions for product-specific QR codes on green cracker boxes, designated sale locations and police patrol teams to prevent the sale and use of conventional crackers.
In 2018, the Supreme Court banned barium salts, which colour the flame green and supply oxygen for the fuel, in fireworks. CSIR-NEERI, the government’s environmental engineering laboratory in Nagpur, developed the first designs in October 2018, including SWAS, which dropped potassium nitrate and sulphur. The government said the designs cut particulate matter by 30-40%. The court expected green firecrackers to cut PM2.5 emissions by at least 25-30%. Green firecrackers developed following the 2018 court order replaced barium nitrate with zeolites, reduced aluminum content, and added dust suppressants. CSIR-NEERI claims these modifications cut emissions by 30-35% compared to traditional firecrackers. The court took cognisance of an HT report on November 3, which flagged the sale of prohibited and unverified firecrackers across Delhi-NCR markets, in violation of its orders.
It allowed only “improved” and “green” firecrackers without barium salts.
