A complete ban on the sale and use of crackers has been imposed in Delhi and surrounding areas by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) starting from today midnight to 30th November. The ban has been enforced before Diwali to control the worsening levels of air quality that is already in the zone of “severe” because of the use of firecrackers.
The order will be applied from today’s midnight in more than 2 dozens cities across 4 of the states that come under Delhi, NCR. The NGT has said, “It will also be applicable to cities and towns where the average environment’s air quality last year in November was poor or worse”.
Only the crackers that are considered to be less polluting will be allowed to sell in cities & towns only where the air quality index is “moderate”. The tribunal even added that the crackers could be burnt in those areas only for two hours due to the Covid-19. The order said, “If nothing is specified, timing will be 8-10 pm on Diwali and Gurupurb, 6 am-8 am on Chhatt and 11.55 pm-12.30 am during Christmas and New Year’s eve.
NGT added if there are, “more stringent measures under orders of the authorities, the same will prevail. Before the release of today’s order, some states including Rajasthan, Sikkim, West Bengal, and Delhi already put a ban on the sale and usage of firecrackers. The order even suggests all state and central pollution control boards keep a continuous check, compile the data during this period, and file a combined report after putting the data on their website.
National Green Tribunal pronounces total ban against sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in Delhi NCR from midnight today till 30th November pic.twitter.com/6jBBnsZt43
— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2020
Delhi is currently experiencing the third wave of Coronavirus and has reported 7745 cases in the last 24 hours, repeatedly second time in three days. For the past three consecutive days, the air quality in the National Capital Region, Delhi has stayed “severe” continuously after weeks of being in the “poor” to “very poor” category. Severe air pollution can badly affect healthy people and severely affect those with existing diseases.
