There will be no sale of firecrackers during upcoming festive season of Diwali in Delhi-NCR as the Supreme Court has restored the ban till November 1.
A bench headed by Justice A K Sikri had on October 6 reserved its order on a plea seeking restoration of the apex court’s last year order banning the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR. In its order, the SC also observed that it didn’t have the opportunity to observe the impact on pollution levels, therefore it also ordered that a relevant agency compute the impact of a noise-and smoke-free festival this year.
The top court, through its November 11 order last year, had suspended all licences which “permit the sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail within the territory of NCR”.
The SC’s decision came amid growing concerns over the impact of pollution created by firecrackers. Each year, the festival leaves the air in Delhi thick with smoke and pollution.
Last year, The apex Court banned the sale of crackers after Delhi-NCR region suffered the deadly smog attack post Diwali. In its order, The SC had said that crack down on uncontrolled bursting of crackers was essential to keep the rising pollution levels under check.
The apex court had last month temporarily lifted its earlier order suspending licences for sale of firecrackers, saying a complete ban would be an “extreme step” and a graded approach was needed to curb pollution caused by them.
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