NEW DELHI: The National Green Court (NGT) on Monday imposed a total ban on the sale and use of firecrackers at NCR and also ordered a similar ban in all cities / towns where air quality fell below the “poor” categories and above last year.
The NCR ban on firecrackers will begin from midnight November 9 to midnight November 30.
The court also ordered all states / UTs to take action to contain air pollution from all sources in light of the potential for exacerbating Covid-19.
“Cities / towns where the air quality is ‘moderate’ or lower, only green cookies sold, and the wearing and bursting times of cookies be restricted to two hours during festivals such as Diwali, Chhath, New Years / Christmas Eve, etc., as specified by the state in question.
“In other places, bans / restrictions are optional for the authorities, but if there are stricter measures under the orders of the authorities, the same will prevail,” said a bank headed by NGT President Judge Adarsh Kumar Goel .
On Thursday, The NGT had reserved, until November 9, its order on the imposition of a ban on firecrackers in 23 states and UT amid the double whammy of the pollution crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier this week, the NGT had requested a response from the Union Ministry of Environment, the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Central Pollution Control Board, the Delhi Police Commissioner and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee on whether to use fire Crackers should be banned from 7 to 30 November.
On Wednesday, the court expanded its hearing of firecracker pollution cases beyond the Delhi-NCR region and issued notices to 19 states and Union territories where air quality is beyond the norm.
On Wednesday, alluding to 122 cities that failed to achieve compliance in 23 states and Union territories, which have consistently been showing poorer air quality, the green court said it may have to consider the direction to ban the use of firecrackers. during the period when the air quality is beyond. a threshold to protect the health of vulnerable groups.
The cities of default include Delhi, Varanasi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Noida, Muzaffarpur, Mumbai, Jammu, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Patna, Gaya, Chandigarh, etc.
Delhi police said on Sunday that all licenses issued for the sale of firecrackers in the national capital have been suspended and further action will be taken as instructed by the National Green Court (NGT).
(With inputs from agencies)
On video: NGT issues ban on firecrackers in cities with air quality below ‘bad’
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