{"id":68308,"date":"2025-10-12T11:47:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T06:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=68308"},"modified":"2025-10-13T11:25:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T05:55:13","slug":"green-crackers-in-delhi-between-eco-friendly-promise-and-pollution-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/green-crackers-in-delhi-between-eco-friendly-promise-and-pollution-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Crackers in Delhi: Between Eco-Friendly Promise and Pollution Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Green Crackers Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, the Supreme Court signalled it may partially relax the firecracker ban in Delhi-NCR \u201con a trial basis,\u201d seeking to balance environmental concerns and public sentiment \u2014 similar to its <\/span><b>2018 Arjun Gopal judgment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which had allowed only low-emission \u2018green crackers\u2019.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case, which began in 2015 with a plea by three infants seeking protection from Delhi\u2019s toxic air, has evolved into a decade-long legal battle over the right to breathe clean air.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite court orders, enforcement has been weak, and violations persist, worsening air quality each festive season.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>A Decade of Judicial Action on Firecrackers: 2015\u20132025<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The firecracker litigation began in 2015, when a petition by three infants sought protection from Delhi\u2019s toxic air.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><b>October 2018<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the SC delivered a landmark ruling, banning conventional firecrackers and permitting only \u201cgreen\u201d variants developed by CSIR, with fixed time slots for bursting them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In <\/span><b>November 2020<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><b>National Green Tribunal (NGT)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> imposed an <\/span><b>\u201cabsolute ban\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on all firecrackers during the <\/span><b>Diwali season<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the <\/span><b>NCR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and other <\/span><b>highly polluted cities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, expanding restrictions beyond the SC\u2019s earlier framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Annual Enforcement and Year-Round Ban (2021\u20132023)<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since 2021, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has regularly banned the sale and use of firecrackers from September through winter each year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2023, following Supreme Court directions, Delhi extended the prohibition to a year-round ban to control persistent air pollution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Supreme Court\u2019s Latest Observations (2024\u20132025)<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In April 2024, the SC observed that a short-term ban around Diwali would not be effective and no relaxation for green crackers should be given without clear evidence of environmental benefit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Later, in September 2025, while reviewing pleas to modify the ban, the Court allowed certified manufacturers to produce green crackers, but prohibited their sale in Delhi-NCR until further orders.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>About Green Crackers<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Green crackers are <\/span><b>eco-friendly fireworks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> developed by the Council of Scientific &amp; Industrial Research \u2013 National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) to reduce harmful emissions and air pollution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These crackers are made with smaller shells, reduced raw material use, elimination of ash, and dust-suppressant additives, which help <\/span><b>curb smoke and particulate emissions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While combustion-based fireworks can never be entirely pollution-free, <\/span><b>green crackers release 30\u201340% fewer pollutants than traditional ones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They do not contain toxic substances such as barium nitrate, arsenic, or lead, and instead use alternative formulations that reduce smoke, particulate matter, and noise levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Variants Developed by CSIR-NEERI<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduced in <\/span><b>2018<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, CSIR-NEERI created three key variants:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>SWAS (Safe Water Releaser)<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>STAR (Safe Thermite Cracker)<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>SAFAL (Safe Minimal Aluminium)<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These versions <\/span><b>eliminate potassium nitrate and sulphur<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, helping cut <\/span><b>gas and dust emissions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> significantly while maintaining festive brightness and sound within safer limits.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Concerns and Risks Surrounding Green Crackers<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to CSIR-NEERI, green crackers emit lower levels of nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide compared to traditional fireworks.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, a 2022 Delhi Technological University study found that <\/span><b>they still release high concentrations of ultra-fine particles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 even more harmful than PM2.5 and PM10, posing serious health risks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Identification and Regulation<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Certified green crackers carry the <\/span><b>CSIR-NEERI green logo<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>encrypted QR codes for authenticity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only companies approved by NEERI and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) can manufacture them, and licensed vendors are authorised to sell these products.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each cracker is traceable to its manufacturer through the QR code.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the regulatory framework, Delhi lacks essential infrastructure \u2014 including testing labs, certification mechanisms, and inspection facilities \u2014 to ensure compliance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts warn that no facility currently exists to verify if the crackers being sold are truly \u201cgreen.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, the QR verification system, designed to prevent counterfeiting, has been cloned by unlicensed manufacturers, leading to widespread circulation of <\/span><b>fake \u201cgreen\u201d crackers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/delhi\/hardlook-smoke-mirrors-the-grey-reality-of-delhis-long-running-experiment-with-green-crackers-10301814\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/delhi-banks-on-green-crackers-this-diwali-what-are-they-risks-and-concerns-explained-101760159469629.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Delhi seeks cleaner Diwali celebrations, weak enforcement and fake \u201cgreen crackers\u201d raise doubts over whether eco-friendly fireworks truly reduce pollution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":68436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3202,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-68308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-green-crackers","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}