Ban on high decibel, imported, chemical containing firecrackers
District administration to follow Supreme Court‘s directive on crackerbursting timings
LUCKNOW : Now, selling and buying high decibel and imported crackers or ones that contain harmful chemicals can lead to the district administration initiating legal action against you. “Sale of imported crackers and ones that produce noise of over 145 decibels is totally banned in the state capital,” said district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma during a meeting called to discuss the sale and purchase of firecrackers.
LUCKNOW : Now, selling and buying high decibel and imported crackers or ones that contain harmful chemicals can lead to the district administration initiating legal action against you.
“Sale of imported crackers and ones that produce noise of over 145 decibels is totally banned in the state capital,” said district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma during a meeting called to discuss the sale and purchase of firecrackers. Administrative officials chalked out various measures to curb noise and air pollution this Diwali.
Sharma said that sale of firecrackers containing chemicals such as antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic, lead and strontium among others had also been restricted.
Besides, the district administration will adhere to the Supreme Court directive regarding timings for bursting crackers (8pm to 10pm). Officials have been instructed to ensure strict implementation of the same.
“Crackers will be burst only from 8pm to 10pm. The rest of the time, bursting of firecrackers will be completely banned,” said Sharma.
Speaking on other guidelines, the DM said that shops selling firecrackers would be allowed to come up only after November 5. “Also, these shops will remain open only from 10am to 9pm. I have directed officials to ensure that the shops adopt all fire safety measures and don’t sell high decibel, imported or chemical containing crackers,” said Sharma.
In addition, the district magistrate has directed nagar nigam and other authorities to define as ‘no cracker zone’ all areas falling within 100m radius of hospitals, educational institutes, the court, Vidhan Bhawan, GPO and the zoological park.
Officials said a special team had been constituted to keep a check on firecracker manufacturers in Sisendi — a town infamous for illegal cracker manufacturing units — where a major firecracker unit blast occurred near Raja Ki Chakki area in 2014, killing 16 people.
Besides, the administration is also running a campaign in collaboration with the Pollution Control Board (PCB) that aims to discourage people from bursting firecrackers this Diwali.
“Since the last year’s drive was a success, we are hoping that this year’s campaign will further help in keeping the air clean and breathable,” said Dr Ram Karan Arya, regional officer, PCB.
To recall, on the Diwali night of 2017, the state capital had recorded a decline of almost 50% in air pollution when compared to the Diwali night of the previous year.
A report by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) mentioned the concentration of PM2.5 (fine and most hazardous particulate matter) as around 316 micrograms / cubic metre of air, and the concentration of PM10 (harmful pollutant) as around 514.8mcg/cubic metre air in seven locations here on the Diwali night of 2017.
The normal values for PM2.5
and PM10 are 60 and 100mcg/ cubic metre respectively.
However, the pollution level in 2017 was far lower than what was recorded on the Diwali night of 2016 -- among the most polluting the city has witnessed so far. In 2016, the PM10 concentration increased from 205mcg/ cubic metre to 986mcg/cubic metre, and the PM2.5 level increased from 70mcg/cubic metre to 792mcg/cubic metre. The Vikas Nagar area was the most polluted, recording the maximum PM10 level.
District administration officials said that schools, colleges, government establishments and institutes would be roped in to transform the awareness campaign into a mass movement.