Chandigarh admn allows green crackers for 2 hours during festivals

After two years of a complete ban on bursting of crackers, the UT administration on Friday allowed the use of green crackers, but only on Dussehra, Diwali, and Gurpurb.

As per the decision taken during a meeting chaired by UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit, green crackers can be burst from 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali and Dussehra (for burning effigies), and from 4 am to 5 am and 9 pm to 10 pm on Gurpurb.

The decision came after a report by the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee found the city’s air quality during Diwali in 2020 and 2021 moderate/satisfactory.

Green crackers or eco-friendly crackers are manufactured from alternative raw materials that emit pollutants at a 30% lesser rate than their conventional counterparts, translating into lesser impact on the environment and lesser health risks.

They don’t contain aluminium, barium, potassium nitrate or carbon, making them eco-friendly. Developed by the National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, a subsidiary of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, they also emit lesser noise.

In the past two years, green crackers were allowed in both Mohali and Panchkula, but there was a blanket ban on crackers in Chandigarh. In 2018, the Supreme Court had allowed the sale of green crackers with the directions that fireworks take place strictly from 8 pm to 10 pm only.

Welcoming UT’s decision, president of the Chandigarh Crackers Dealers’ Association, Devinder Gupta said, “Lifting of the blanket ban will help traders tide over the huge losses suffered over the past two years.”