SC: What steps taken to ban China crackers?

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre as to what steps it had taken to stop import of crackers from China, the cause for causing huge air pollution, ahead of the ensuing Diwali.

A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta sought the response of the additional solicitor general Pinky Anand, even as it reserved verdict on a bunch of petitions filed by three toddlers, Arjun Gopal, Aaray Bhandari and Zoya Rao Bhasin seeking ban on crackers as they caused air pollution.

Acting on these petitions which complained of pollution, the bench early this month had asked firecracker manufacturers not to use heavy metals like lithium, antimony, mercury, arsenic and lead and chemical elements like antimony “in any form whatsoever” in their products. It said that it was the responsibility of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to ensure that the order was complied with, including in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, where there were a large number of cracker manufacturers.

On behalf of the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association, Sivakasi it was submitted that bursting of firecrackers during Diwali is not the only cause of air pollution. Air pollution is dependent on several factors like industries, aviation, railways, shipping, construction activities, geo-climatic conditions, burning of crop remnants, emission from vehicles, increasing number of vehicles and other like factors.

It was brought to the notice of the court that the Madras high court had passed an order banning import of cheap crackers from China, the root cause of air pollution as the ingredients used in the fire crackers were not subjected to any control or regulation. As a result, these crackers caused huge air pollution and it was the responsibility of the Centre to ban such imports.