A box of 10 rockets for ₹ 350, four packs of spinners for ₹ 800 and two packs of fountain bombs for ₹ 450 were among the firecrackers bought by 15-year-old Chirag at Sadar Bazaar on Monday. He had come to one of the Capital’s largest firecracker markets with a friend, hoping to beat the Diwali rush and score the best deals.
“The colour of the packaging is also green. “No firecrackers are green, it’s a misnomer. Yes, it produces least possible emissions upon its burning. Again, the quality of emissions depends on types of burning, complete burning produces mostly carbon dioxide, water vapour, fine and semi-fine particulate matters. “Both are transported by the wind and dispersion is dependent on wind speed and moisture content of the atmosphere. The semifine particulates travels faster than microfine particulates. This is called the retention time in the atmosphere, which creates problems with respect to the respiratory system of humans, choking the stomata of plants, haze in the atmosphere etc.”
Dipankar Saha, former head of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) ’s air laboratory, and one of the scientists who developed green crackers in 2018, said no firecrackers are green when it comes to impact on the environment.
This means it will not impact the environment,” he said. Fine particulates remain suspended for a longer time as compared to semi-fine particulates,” said Saha.
With more than two weeks to go before Diwali , firecrackers are being sold openly across the Capital, even as the Delhi government is yet to notify its decision on their sale and use. The consequences of firecracker use are not abstract. Experts attributed much of the deterioration to widespread firecracker use during Dussehra, which added to the city’s pollution burden. A QR code is meant to help verify that a firecracker is a certified green cracker approved by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).
It also gave the Centre and expert bodies until October 15 to assess the impact of barium content in the so-called green crackers on air quality. The matter is likely to be heard on October 29. On Wednesday, a day after Dussehra celebrations, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) worsened from 179 at 4pm on Tuesday to 245 at the same time the following day.
A visit by HT to three major markets — Jama Masjid, Sadar Bazaar and Shakti Nagar — found vendors displaying products labelled “green crackers”, “pollution-free” and “zero pollution”, while other firecrackers were available on request, often from nearby warehouses or concealed stocks. Outside Gate No 3 of Jama Masjid , at least 10 carts lined the lane, displaying firecrackers with labels promising “pollution-free” celebrations.
The Supreme Court earlier this month declined to impose a blanket ban on firecrackers, permitting the use of new-generation green crackers while emphasising the need to balance environmental concerns with public sentiment.
