Green crackers in Jaipur without hologram
JAIPUR: Green crackers are available at the markets of the city, however, they are devoid of any QR code or hologram unlike the ones launched by the Ministry of science and technology recently. Following the ban on firecrackers in Delhi and NCR region in October 2018, green crackers were developed by the Council of Scientif i c and I ndustrial Research’s National environmental engineering research institute (CSIR-NEERI).
These green crackers were launched by Ministry of science and technology on October 5 claiming that they would release 30% less particulate matter than the normal ones. Such crackers have a logo and a QR code which can be scanned to know the chemical composition.
In the markets of Jaipur, the crackers have a logo indicating the ‘green cracker’, however no QR code or hologram has been indicated on them to specify the authenticity of the green cracker. Curiosity seems to have drawn the customers to look for green crackers in the city, even as no such ban has been imposed on normal firecrackers in Rajasthan.
“I want to see how green crackers burn. I’m curious to see if there can at all be anything like a ‘green cracker’”, said Vivek Sharma, one of the buyers at a fireworks shop near Hawa Mahal.
Another buyer Amit Kacchawah said that he decided to buy e-crackers after hearing about them in the news. “I often urged people around me to discontinue the practice of burning firecrackers because of pollution. However, after I heard about green crackers I wanted to buy them,” said Kacchawah.
Sellers said that the green crackers were brought to the markets since the buyers asked for it even as there is no assurance regarding the chemical composition. “We are told by the manufacturers that the chemical composition of the crackers labelled as green crackers emit 30% less smoke. However, there is no hologram on the packets,” said Suresh Khasani, president of the firework sellers association, Jaipur.
The firecrackers developed by CSRI-NEERI does not contain any of the chemical banned by Supreme Court such as lithium, arsenic, lead, barium and mercury and antimony.
However, there are many health and environmental damages caused by conventional crackers.