Traders angry, say they have been singled out in the name of pollution

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court order banning the sale of crackers in the Delhi-ncr until November 1 has put a damper on the festive spirits in Delhi’s most popular and oldest firecracker hub, the walled city.

The move will affect the livelihoods of many. “Around ₹500 crore worth of crackers is sold during Diwali in NCR. In Delhi alone, there are around 30,000-40,000 shops, with almost a lakh of people involved in the business. In entire NCR, around four lakh people are employed in over 70,000 shops,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), while adding that many are seasonal stores that run on temporary licences.

Many vendors in the area claimed that they had not received any official confirmation on the directive. However, some had already pulled their shutters on their shops, when HT visited the stores on Monday.

Merchants in the Jama Masjid, Chawri Bazar and Sadar Bazar areas were incensed at the alleged “indecisiveness” on the part of the court. “If they were going to reinstate the ban, why did they relax it temporarily? Based on that, we gave out out stock to retailers on credit. Now where will get the money for that?” said a wholesaler.

The merchants also cried foul saying that the petitioners had “singled out firecrackers” even though it is not the only source of pollution. “The bigger problems include construction sites, vehicular emissions, and crop burning. All the order will do is affect our livelihood. We can’t eat firecrackers. We have to sell them to buy food,” said a wholesaler.

MERCHANTS IN THE JAMA MASJID, CHAWRI BAZAR AND SADAR BAZAR AREAS WERE INCENSED AT THE ALLEGED ‘INDECISIVENESS’ ON THE PART OF THE COURT