2-hour window for bursting of green crackers

Pushing for a pan India "green" Diwali, the Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed major curbs on firecrackers, including an 8 pm to 10 pm window for bursting them, and limiting the manufacture and sale of fireworks to only those that conform to permissible smoke and noise levels.

A bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan also restrained ecommerce websites like Flipkart and Amazon from selling firecrackers with emission levels beyond the permissible limit.

The permissible limit of sound and smoke will be approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, the court said.

The apex court's order -permitting "green" firecrackers and fixing a two-hour time period for bursting them on Diwali and other festivals -- came on a plea seeking a ban on the manufacture and sale of firecrackers to curb air pollution.

The bench said e-commerce websites will be hauled up for contempt of court if they don't adhere to the court's direction.

"Firecrackers with permissible decibel sound limits will only be allowed to be sold in the market," the bench said.

The court also asked the Centre to encourage community cracker bursting during Diwali and other festivals in Delhi-NCR and directed all states to explore its feasibility. The court said station house officers of police stations concerned will be held liable if banned firecrackers are sold in their area.

The top court was of the view that there is need to take into account all aspects, including the fundamental right of livelihood of firecracker manufacturers and the right to health of over 1.3 billion people in the country.

The apex court said Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution applies to both segments and it needs to strike a balance while considering a countrywide ban on firecrackers.