Two days of green crackers in Delhi-NCR: SC

Why in the News

Deepavali firecracker rules in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) have moved from a complete ban to a regulated two day window for certified green crackers. A two judge Supreme Court Bench called bursting crackers a “religious practice“, but held it subject to public health and the right to a clean environment.

What has the court allowed?

1. Permitted crackers and days: Only certified green crackers, made with a modified chemical mix that releases less smoke and dust, may be burst, and only on 7 and 8 November.
2. Permitted hours: Bursting is allowed only for one hour in the morning and two hours at night on those days.
3. No-cracker zones: Bursting is barred within 300 metres of hospitals, nursing homes, health centres, old age homes, silence zones and educational institutions. These will be marked and published.
4. The takeaway: The court has replaced prohibition with rules on which crackers, when and where.

How does the court weigh religion against clean air?

1. Religious practice: The court accepted bursting crackers as a religious practice for Deepavali, now a national, even international, festival across caste, community and religion.
2. Article 25(1): The freedom to practise, profess and propagate religion is “certainly subject to public order, morality, health“. A practice with a religious colour is only a qualified right.
3. Article 21: The right to life includes the right to a healthy, safe and pollution-free environment.
4. Festival’s purpose defeated: Severe air and noise pollution hurts children, the disabled and the elderly most, which “defeats the very purpose of the festivities”.
5. Scriptural ritual: The Skandapurana and the Padmapurana refer only to lamps as the Deepavali ritual. Bursting crackers began after gunpowder reached India a few centuries ago.

Why did the court move away from a complete ban?

1. Health damage: Unregulated bursting has chronically spiked the Air Quality Index (AQI), a single pollution score. Microscopic particulate matter enters the body and causes “substantial damage“.
2. Enforcement failure: The State had “utterly failed” since 2015 to enforce the court’s orders restricting fireworks.
3. Ban without results: Air quality did not improve after the complete ban resumed, and the AQI spiked on Dasara and the day after.
4. Illegal sale: The complete ban fed the illegal sale of crackers and stopped people from buying legitimate green crackers.

What curbs govern manufacture and sale?

1. Certified makers: Only makers certified by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) may produce green crackers.
2. Sealed boxes: Cracker boxes must be sealed and never mixed with unauthorised or conventional crackers.
3. Banned types: Crackers joined in series (“ladis“) and garlands may not be made or sold.
4. QR codes: Only crackers carrying product-specific QR codes may be sold.
5. Licences and security: Cancelled trader licences are restored from 4 to 6 November. Makers and traders must deposit a “handsome” monetary security fixed by the authorities.

Challenges

1. Weak enforcement record: The State failed to enforce cracker curbs from 2015, yet the same machinery must now police hours and zones.
2. Fake certification: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has earlier found registered makers selling green cracker QR codes to unregistered ones.
3. Hard to tell apart: In 2018 and 2019 the police could not distinguish green crackers from conventional ones on the street.

Way Forward

1. Mapped zones: Publish the no-cracker zones before the festival, so residents know where bursting is barred.
2. QR checks at sale: Verify QR codes at shops against the certified makers’ lists.
3. Festival air monitoring: Pollution control boards should publish AQI readings on both festival days to test the window.

Conclusion

The court has swapped an unenforced ban for a regulated window, treating Deepavali crackers as a qualified religious right. Air quality after the two permitted days will show whether regulation works where prohibition failed.

Key numbers

1. Permitted bursting hours: 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on each permitted day.
2. Green cracker production window: 2 to 6 November, for certified makers only.

Back2Basics: Green crackers

1. Barium-free chemistry: The green series is made without barium, a toxic chemical used for colour.
2. CSIR-NEERI’s role: CSIR-NEERI, a laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in Nagpur, developed India’s first green cracker formulations.
3. Arjun Gopal judgment: In Arjun Gopal and Others vs Union of India (2018), the Supreme Court allowed only reduced emission and green crackers.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2016] In the cities of our country, which among the following atmospheric gases are normally considered in calculating the value of Air Quality Index? 1. Carbon dioxide 2. Carbon monoxide 3. Nitrogen dioxide 4. Sulfur dioxide 5. Methane Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1, 2 and 3 only (b) 2, 3 and 4 only (c) 1, 4 and 5 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ANSWER: (b)”