New Delhi, 29 October (H.S.):

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to impose a blanket ban on firecrackers across Delhi-NCR and reserved its verdict in the matter. During the hearing, a bench headed by Justice M.M. Sundresh said the court did not wish to hurt people’s religious sentiments during festivals and would therefore pass a balanced order that could specify the types of firecrackers permitted and the time window for their use.

The court reprimanded the Delhi government and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), observing that issuing orders every year without ensuring their effective implementation on the ground risked reducing the exercise to little more than a formality or an academic exercise.

The bench stressed that officials needed to adopt a more comprehensive and innovative approach to address the serious problem of air pollution. It observed that merely prohibiting the sale of firecrackers would not be sufficient, as traders could continue selling them illegally in response to market demand.

The court also recalled that Diwali is a festival of lights and the lighting of traditional lamps, rather than one centred on bursting firecrackers. It noted that the principal concern was not the use of lights and earthen lamps but the smoke and pollution generated by firecrackers.

The bench suggested involving prominent personalities and role models, including cricketer Virat Kohli, in anti-pollution campaigns to raise awareness among the younger generation.

During an earlier hearing on September 30, the court had observed that a complete ban on firecrackers could hurt people’s religious sentiments. It had indicated that neither a blanket prohibition nor unrestricted permission to burst firecrackers around the clock would be appropriate.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar