Centre rules out total ban on firecrackers

Centre rules out total ban on firecrackers

News:

1. Recently, the Centre ruled out a national ban on firecrackers

Important facts:

2. The apex court was hearing applications seeking a complete nationwide ban on the use, manufacture, licensing, sale, resale, or distribution of firecrackers in bid to combat pollution.

3. The Centre suggests alternative steps to curb pollution such as:

• Production of green crackers.
• Crackers could even be burst in areas pre-designated by the State governments.
• The Centre also suggested working together with institutions such as:

1. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Reseach
2. National Environment Engineering Research Institute
3. Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation(PESO)
4. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

• Setting up of Raw Material Characterization Facilities to check the presence of high contents of unburned material, partially combusted material or poor quality of raw material in gun powder in firecracker.
• Use of “reduced emission firecrackers or improved firecrackers”.
• These are “low emission sound and light emitting functional crackers with PM reduction by 30-35%.
• It helps in significant reduction in nitrogen oxide and Sulphur dioxide due to in-situ water generation as dust suppressant and low-costdue usage of low cost oxidants.
• PESO could be approached to ensure that fireworks with permitted chemicals and decibel levels are used.
• PESO could run tests for banned ones like lithium, arsenic, antimony, lead, mercury.
• CPCB and respective state pollution control boards shall carry out short-term monitoring in their cities from regulatory parameters against short term ambient air quality proposed by CPCB with regard to bursting of firecracker.

5. Arguments in favour of using firecrackers:

• The Tamil Nadu government gave its arguments in favour of restrained use of firecrackers but not a blanket ban by submitting that whatever human beings do contributes to environmental pollution.