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Pollution

Supreme Court Questions Delhi's Exclusive Firecracker Ban

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The Supreme Court has raised concerns over the rationale behind the year-long firecracker ban exclusive to Delhi and the National Capital Region, emphasizing that other cities should not be deprived of pollution-free air. The court questioned why citizens in the Delhi-NCR region are entitled to cleaner air while those in other cities are not. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Bhushan R Gavai, observed that the court's stance on the ban should be pan-India and not limited to just Delhi. The court was hearing applications by firecracker manufacturers and citizen bodies challenging the ban, which was first implemented in 2017 by the National Green Tribunal and later endorsed by the Supreme Court in 2018.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Supreme Court has questioned the rationale behind the year-long firecracker ban exclusive to Delhi and the National Capital Region.
  • The court emphasized that the ban should be pan-India and not limited to just Delhi.
  • The bench observed that the court's stance on the ban should not deprive citizens in other cities of pollution-free air.
  • The court was hearing applications by firecracker manufacturers and citizen bodies challenging the ban.
  • The ban on bursting, sale, and manufacture of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR has been in place since 2017.
  • The Supreme Court endorsed the ban in 2018 and has stuck to the stance since then.
  • The Centre, in consultation with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), has been working on green firecracker formulation.
  • The court asked the Centre to submit a further status report on the green firecracker formulation.

Statistics:

  • The firecracker ban has been in place since 2017 in Delhi-NCR.
  • The Supreme Court endorsed the ban in 2018.
  • The Centre launched the green firecracker formulation project in consultation with NEERI in 2020.
  • The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 22, 2024.

Sources:

  • Supreme Court of India
  • National Green Tribunal (NGT)
  • Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
  • National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI)
  • Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from HT Lucknow.

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