Diwali in Delhi NCR, will be without fireworks for the vast majority. Supreme Court refused to relax the ban it imposed on sale of firecrackers till November 1 in area. A bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan dismissed an appeal by firecracker traders saying relaxing the ban order would be against the very spirit of the Apex court verdict.
On October 9, Supreme Court had stayed the sale of fireworks in Delhi-NCR.
Traders requested a relaxation of this order to allow them to sell the firecrackers for at least a couple of days before Diwali on October 19.
But adhering to its order of November 2016, which prohibits the sale and storage of firecrackers, the court set aside the petition.
However, the court has allowed people who have already purchased fireworks, before October 9, to burst them.
The court observed: We are not going to relax the order as far as sale of firecrackers is concerned. Sale of firecrackers which has already taken place before the ban order. People will burst it and that will be sufficient. Anyhow, it is not going to be a cracker-free Diwali.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing on behalf of the firecracker traders had suggested to the bench that they be permitted to sell the firecrackers for at least one or two days prior to Diwali and that the court could limit the timing for sale and even bursting of the firecrackers.
The traders had on October 11 said their licences were renewed after the court's September 12 order, and they had procured firecrackers for sale during Diwali. They said they had invested a huge sum of money after their licences were revived and the latest order would cause a massive loss to them.
But the Supreme Court directed Delhi Police to implement the order and expressed anguish that the issue of pollution had been given a communal color referring to comments made on social media by some politicians and commentators.
While pollution will definitely come down in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas, the festival of lights may also not be so bright. People are divided in their opinion, but they understand the reasons for the ban.
It is evident that during Diwali pollution levels greatly increase. Visibility drops due to a smoke haze and people with respiratory diseases suffer considerably.
After Diwali in Delhi last year, PM 2.5 and PM10 reached 238 and 517, as against an accepted level of 60 for PM 2.5 and 100 for PM10. People were unable to breathe because of the increased pollution.
Safar, the Central government agency that monitors air pollution has already indicated air quality in the national capital is getting worse and is likely to worsen further in the next few days. The Met Department too has indicated that slow wind speeds are leading to suspension of polluted air.
While the festival of Diwali needs to be celebrated with great fervour, across the country... protection of the environment is also a sacred duty... hence our celebrations of all festivals must become greener and safer.