NGT imposes total ban on sale of crackers in Delhi-NCR till November 30

New Delhi: As the pollution level in the national capital continues to surge, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken the decision to imposed ban on cracker sale till November 30. The ban will be imposed starting tonight (November 9, 2020).

The decision comes amid festive season when the sale of crackers is at its peak. 

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, "The cities/towns where air quality is ''moderate'' or below, only green crackers be sold, and the timings for use and bursting of crackers be restricted to two hours during festivals like Diwali, Chhath, New Year/Christmas Eve etc., as may be specified by the state concerned,'' as reported by PTI. 

The NGT also directed all states and Union Territories to initiate special drives to contain air pollution from all sources in view of the potential of aggravation of COVID-19.

Earlier this week, the NGT had sought response of the Union Environment Ministry, the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, the Central Pollution Control Board, the Delhi Police Commissioner and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee on whether the use of firecrackers should be banned from November 7-30.

The Delhi Police on Sunday (November 8, 2020) announced to suspend all licences issued for the sale of firecrackers in the national capital. 

On Wednesday, alluding to 122 non-attainment cities in 23 states and Union Territories, which have been consistently showing poorer air quality, the green tribunal said that it may have to consider direction to prohibit use of fire crackers during the period air quality is beyond a threshold to protect the health of the vulnerable groups.

Non-attainment cities include Delhi, Varanasi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Noida, Muzaffarpur, Mumbai, Jammu, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Patna, Gaya, Chandigarh etc.