Government launches eco-friendly 'green' crackers ahead of Diwali

New Delhi: In its efforts to curb air pollution, the government on Saturday launched eco-friendly 'green' firecrackers. The announcement was made by the Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan during a press conference in New Delhi.

Vardhan informed that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) labs have been successful in developing various environment-friendly fireworks such as sound emitting crackers, flowerpots, pencils, chakkar and sparklers. These crackers are available for in the domestic market for consumers and sellers.

“I am very happy that on one hand we would be using eco-friendly crackers this Deepawali, and, on the other hand our traditional festival celebrations with lights and fire crackers shall remain intact. Millions of homes which are dependent on sale and manufacture of fireworks will also rejoice this festival, thanks to our scientists!” the health minister said.

During the press conference, Vardhan launched the green crackers and informed that a green logo as well as a Quick Response (QR) coding system has been developed for differentiation of green crackers from conventional crackers.

According to the health minister, the environmental-friendly crackers will not only help keep the traditional Indian festivities and celebrations intact but will also provide a livelihood to the millions of homes, which are dependent on the sale and manufacture of fireworks, since due to the ban on crackers that was imposed by the Supreme Court, there was a threat of imminent closure of the entire fireworks' industry. "However, Science has once again come to the rescue of the common man and millions of jobs have been saved due to the interventions made by our scientists." Vardhan said.

The Minister also lauded the efforts made by CSIR in developing these green crackers and informed that nearly 165 fireworks manufactures have been roped in and around 65 more manufacturers are in the process of coming on board.

"Emissions testing facilities for the new firecrackers have been set up at CSIR-NEERI as well as their approved National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration (NABL) facilities whose list is available at CSIR NEERI website. Further, a Raw Materials Compositional Analysis (RACE) facility has been launched in Sivakasi to facilitate manufacturers for testing their raw materials and chemicals," said Vardhan.

About 530 emissions testing certificates have been issued to fireworks manufacturers.