Delhiites won’t have to inhale noxious fumes day after Diwali
Delhi denizens can now heave a collective sigh of relief, as the Supreme Court on Monday said its order of last November banning the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-national Capital Region (NCR) will continue till October 31.
A bench headed by Justice A K Sikri said the apex court’s September 12 order temporarily lifting the stay and permitting the sale of firecrackers would be effective from November 1.
Diwali is on October 19 and the order effectively means that no firecrackers will be available for purchase before the festival.
The top court said it has not changed the September 12 order but its November 11, 2016, order banning the sale of firecrackers “should be given a chance”.
The top court, through the 2016 order, had suspended all licences which “permit the sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR”.
On September 12 this year, the apex court had temporarily lifted its earlier order and permitted the sale of firecrackers.
The apex court’s order came on a plea seeking restoration of the November 2016 order.
Who can forget how Diwali fireworks had lit up the skyline of Delhi on the night of October 30 last year, but darkness had descended the morning after as a dense blanket of smog turned the city into a chamber of noxious and cancer-causing pollutants.
Experts, welcoming the apex court’s order, caution that while firecrackers cause episodic spikes in levels of air pollutants, what is needed is a sustained focus on tackling the menace.
“It is a welcome move. The air of Delhi is any way saturated with pollutants at this time of the season as paddy stubble burning starts and temperature drops. Diwali fireworks only compound the problem,” Bhure Lal, chairman, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) said.
Going by the prevailing conditions, wherein the air quality is already ‘very poor’ in many parts of the city, the situation may spiral out of control if firecrackers are set off indiscriminately during Diwali, according to SAFAR.
However, the 24-hour-average AQI (air quality index) is ‘poor’, a shade better than ‘very poor’, it said.
A “very poor” AQI essentially means that people may suffer from respiratory illness on prolonged exposure to such air. On further dip in air quality, the AQI will turn “severe”.
“The ban would ensure that the levels of air pollutants do not reach as high a limit as they did last year around Diwali,” Ajay Mathur, director general of TERI, said.
According to a report on the composition of firecrackers prepared by Pune-based Chest Research Foundation, they emit extremely high levels of PM 2.5 over a short period of time with the ‘snake tablet’ variety producing a peak level of 64,850 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre).
The 24-hour prescribed average of PM 2.5, which are ultra fine pollutants measuring 30 times thinner than a human hair, is 60.
Greenpeace India also welcomed the SC decision, saying the verdict might provide some relief from the episodic air pollution spikes in the city in October i.e. during Diwali.
A report prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the health hazards of chemicals and metals present in firecrackers lists toxic dust and carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds.
According to the report, many gaseous pollutants emitted due to the bursting of firecrackers remain airborne for days, posing danger to children and unborn babies.
A study by a team of scientists of IIT Kanpur has pointed out that during Diwali, PM levels nearly double from the average level and the organic content of PM increases more than twice.
THE ORDER EFFECTIVELY MEANS THAT NO FIRECRACKERS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BEFORE THE FESTIVAL THE AIR QUALITY IS ALREADY ‘VERY POOR’ IN MANY PARTS OF THE CITY