INDIANS MARK ‘GREEN’ DIWALI AS COURT BANS TOXIC FIRECRACKERS
▶ Supreme Court allows the use of less-polluting devices to celebrate the Hindu festival
Indians will celebrate a “green” Diwali this year after the country’s top court upheld a ban on setting off toxic firecrackers in an attempt to reduce air pollution, which is blamed for millions of deaths.
Diwali – the festival of lights – is a major Hindu religious festival celebrated by hundreds of millions of people, but every year the media focus is on the haze of pollution that follows fireworks displays.
India’s Supreme Court in 2018 imposed a nationwide ban on the use of firecrackers that contain toxic substances, such as barium and lead.
On Monday, the country’s highest federal court reiterated its ban on the sale, purchase and production of the highly polluting crackers, but allowed the use of “green crackers” to mark the festival.
The court overturned an order by the West Bengal state court imposing a blanket ban on all firecrackers.
“There cannot be a complete ban on firecrackers. Strengthen the mechanism to stop misuse,” the court order said.
Where bans have been issued, implementation has been swift. Yesterday, Delhi Police said they had already seized 4,000 kilograms of firecrackers and arrested 26 people. In eastern Kolkata city, 77.5kg of firecrackers were seized and four people were arrested.
Many states, including the capital, New Delhi, have imposed a complete ban on fireworks. Many say the ban hurts the religious sentiment of the majority Hindu community.
Other states have allowed a two-hour window on the evening of Diwali for people to set off firecrackers.
The court-approved firecrackers are low-emission fireworks that have a small shell size and produce 30 per cent less particulate matter – microscopic particles that can enter the lungs and the bloodstream.
They do not contain harmful chemicals such as lithium, arsenic, barium or lead. Instead, they release water vapour.
For centuries, Hindus have celebrated Diwali by lighting earthen lamps and candles to mark the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya, his place of birth, after completing 14 years in exile.
Firecrackers were introduced in the 18th century when Maratha rulers organised firework displays for the general public – 400 years after the devices were introduced to the country by Mongols from China in the 14th century.
In the past few years, India has developed the world’s second largest firecracker industry after China. It is estimated to be worth 50 billion rupees ($669.1 million).
It provides employment to one million people, 300,000 of them in Sivakasi in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where 90 per cent of the country’s fireworks are made. Almost every household in the city is engaged in the industry.
The fireworks industry also indirectly provides employment to eight million people each year by giving temporary licences to sell firecrackers during the festival season.
But in recent years, intervention by the government and courts after demands for a ban on firecrackers by health and social activists have plunged the once-profitable industry into a financial crisis.
India is one of the most polluted countries in the world.
Last year, a report by Swiss organisation IQAir listed 22 Indian cities among the world’s 30 most polluted. It ranked Delhi as the most polluted capital in the world.
In 2019, the city’s Air Quality Index went beyond 999 – categorised as severe.
The World Health Organisation’s recommended safe level is 25.
Health and environmental experts say the firecrackers aggravate the air pollution in big cities such as Delhi.
“Air quality hits 20 times worse than the permissible limit, the entire city chokes and hospitals run out of beds,” said Vimlendu Jha, environmentalist and founder of Swechha charity.
“In that situation, the least we can do is not burst firecrackers and further aggravate an already-choked city,” he said.
“Firecrackers are episodic but that doesn’t mean we act stupid for celebration at the cost of public health.”
In Delhi, police have seized 4,000 kilograms of firecrackers and arrested 26 people for breaking the court’s banning order