The Delhi government will move the Supreme Court to allow the use of green firecrackers during Diwali, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced on Monday, highlighting the festival’s cultural significance and the government’s commitment to curbing pollution.
“Keeping in mind the sentiments of crores of people in Delhi, our government has requested the Supreme Court to allow the use of green firecrackers in Delhi during the festival,” Gupta said. She added that only certified green crackers manufactured by authorised agencies would be permitted, with strict adherence to regulatory norms.
“All green firecrackers must be manufactured by authorised agencies and certified by competent and relevant departments,” the chief minister emphasised, stressing both environmental protection and public safety.
Earlier, the Supreme Court allowed certified manufacturers to produce green crackers, stipulating that their sale in Delhi-NCR remains prohibited unless approved. A bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai had instructed the Centre to re-examine the total ban on firecracker manufacture in the capital region.
Also read: SC refuses to relax ban on firecrackers
“In the meantime, we permit the manufacturers who are having the certification of green crackers as certified by NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) as well as PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation) to manufacture. However, this will be subject to an undertaking by the manufacturers to this court that until further orders passed by this court, they would not sell any of their crackers in the prohibited areas,” the court had said.
The conditional order permitting production will remain in effect until the next hearing on October 8, when the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is expected to submit its report. Earlier in April, a bench led by former top court judge Justice A S Oka had rejected pleas to relax the ban on manufacture, storage, and sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.
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