Is partial firecracker ban enforceable to fix Delhi air or will it fail like last Diwali?

Illustration by Manas Gurung | ThePrintTeam

The Supreme Court Tuesday allowed the sale of firecrackers but with stringent conditions to control pollution in Delhi-NCR. Analysts have argued that the court’s ban on firecrackers last year did not yield much.

ThePrint asks: Is partial firecracker ban enforceable to fix Delhi air or will it fail like last Diwali?

This Diwali will be different than all others thanks to Supreme Court verdict

Gopal Shankarnarayan
Advocate, Supreme Court

The two primary directions that have come from the Supreme Court makes it abundantly clear that this is not a “partial firecracker ban”. Unlike last year’s firecracker ban, where the penalisation wasn’t clear, the ruling that SHOs will be held liable in case banned firecrackers are sold in their area, is a welcome move. Last year, when we went and complained to the SHOs, they refused to take any action. But this time, they have a direct ruling from the SC. Now if they refuse to follow these orders, they will be held guilty of contempt of court.

As far as political will is concerned, I am certain there is none. There never has been. Which is why this judicial intervention was necessary. But there sure is enough capacity to implement any and all changes ordered by the court.

In January this year, certain firecracker manufacturers had said that they have stopped manufacturing the crackers because they are unsure of what the court judgment will be. Today, if they complain of losses, then it shows they were lying back then. If they don’t care about the health of our children, then I have nothing to say to them. Ultimately, it is the layperson who suffers. The privileged go back to their AC rooms.

I am certainly hopeful that this Diwali will be different than all others. A massive effort from our end is responsible for this verdict. Doctors from Gangaram hospital, advocates, civil society members—we have all come together to work for this. It is the collective victory of all of us who care about society and the disastrous implications of firecrackers burning.

Enforcement agencies lack will and capacity to implement firecracker ban

Shweta Narayan
Environmentalist

There are two aspects to this, which are absolutely mandatory for any change to occur: Political will and the capacity to enforce this rule. The regulatory agencies fail on both accounts. Since 2005, the Supreme Court has banned ‘very loud’ firecrackers. How did that help? We have last year’s Diwali as an example of this failure to implement court orders as well. Even when there was a near-complete ban, we still failed miserably. We need to ask ourselves what the purpose of court intervention is if our government is simply not willing to bring about any change. There is a clear lack of intent. But even in some cases, when officers do possess the will to do good, they lack the capacity. They aren’t given enough money or lack the manpower required to implement the ban.

Most importantly, it is the lack of cooperation from the civil society that is responsible for this repeated failure. Only certain sections of the public, who have been terribly affected by the air pollution due to firecrackers, seem to care. The rest are not interested in any change whatsoever. The Tamil Nadu government ensured that there are enough public awareness campaigns against the air pollution caused by the Bhogi festival where old discarded possessions of people are burnt. That public awareness is completely lacking in the case of Diwali. I have no hope for any change for Diwali 2018. At best, we can start working right away to ensure a safer Diwali 2019.

8-10pm ban on firecrackers unenforceable

Siddharth Singh
Author, ‘The Great Smog of India’ 

The complete ban of firecrackers last year was a much better verdict than the half-hearted ‘partial’ ban that has come out today. Last year, there was a significant impact because of the ruling. Fewer firecrackers were burnt, and that directly influenced the air quality.

There isn’t one single factor responsible for air pollution. It is a systemic problem which requires structural solutions. Efforts that we make today will show results years from now. While industry emissions contribute heavily to air pollution and are difficult to curtail, certain elements are simply low-hanging fruits and can be taken care of easily. Banning firecrackers is one such low-hanging fruit. A complete ban on firecrackers won’t have any negative impact on Diwali. People can continue to light diyas. But the positive implications of banning firecrackers are obvious and far too important to ignore.

Air pollution has become a developmental crisis for India. Over 1 million people die every year due to outdoor air pollution in the country. More Indians die every week due to air pollution than have died as a result of all India-Pakistan wars put together. This should tell us a thing or two about the crisis we are looking at. Keeping all of this in mind, I don’t think the court has gone all the way to curtail air pollution caused by firecrackers. Such an intervention must come from the Centre. A press release Monday from the government urged people to burn fewer firecrackers. So, they have clearly expressed their agreement with the broader sentiment. As of now, the 8-10 pm ban is unenforceable.

Only smoke-free, green firecrackers will benefit Delhi’s condition

Samrat Ghosh
Assistant professor, IISER Mohali and developer of ecofriendly fireworks

While the partial ban may be appreciated, it will do absolutely nothing to fix the condition in Delhi right now. A partial ban is almost useless at this point because if people have access to crackers, they will buy it and not bother about the Supreme Court order that came out only today. To fix the air, a complete blanket ban is needed on conventional firecrackers. Only totally smoke-free, green firecrackers will have any benefit.

Delhi’s air is being polluted by a variety of sources. Recently there was a fire in the Bhalswa landfill site. Something or the other like this happens continuously, so even small amounts of conventional firecrackers will only make it worse. If Delhi people want to celebrate Diwali, they will have to look at pollution-free options.

That becomes a challenge. For example, the cold anar cracker is delightful to use and is smoke free, but it is quite expensive, is imported and requires an agent to demonstrate. The state should focus on eliminating these kinds of hurdles and encourage the larger change of adopting such firecrackers by facilitating them at official ceremonies where conventional fireworks are used. Even citizens who can afford them should consider switching to them, starting at events like weddings.

For other consumers who are probably unaware of environmental effects, society needs to encourage them to build and be aware of pollution-free firecrackers like the ones we build at IISER Mohali. This year, it is already too late to affect change, considering the majority of people have the mentality to definitely burst fire crackers during Diwali. And right now nothing is available commercially that can satisfy everyone’s demands too, unfortunately.

Supreme Court decision can only be effective if implemented properly

Rahiba R. Parveen
Special Correspondent, ThePrint

The Supreme Court decision can only be effective if it is implemented properly. Without an effective implementation, the idea behind providing a time-slot for bursting crackers will not serve the purpose

We have seen the worst air-pollution levels in Delhi-NCR in the last few years. In 2015, the much talked about odd-even scheme by Delhi government could not lower pollution either. I do not mean to discredit the apex court’s ruling. They have also put these conditions thinking about the economic condition of the firecracker manufacturers and sellers. The concern is just that while firecrackers do contribute to air pollution every year during the festive season, any partial ban will only be effective if it is implemented properly. The focus is on slowly changing the public mindset towards a green Diwali.

Health conditions deteriorate around Diwali due to excessive smoke and chemicals produced by these crackers. India has the highest respiratory disease burden and air pollution one of the main components responsible for it. We have the highest number of lung cancer cases and the trend is only growing. To say that small measures will resolve the catastrophe of toxic air in the near future would be incorrect.

In case, the implementation of Supreme Court’s directions is not followed, it would need to be revisited. This way or that way, the use of crackers which produce a lot of smoke is not a good idea unless they are replaced by something nature friendly.

Besides, measures to handle pollution through excessive traffic, smoke and chemicals in factories and stubble burning in the neighbouring regions is the need of the hour. We need a holistic approach.

By Fatima Khan and Sandhya Ramesh.