[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Doctors and environmentalists have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision and hoped it would ensure a relatively cleaner Diwali this year but leave traders in dismay.
The Delhites this Diwali season may literally breathe easy after the Supreme Court put a ban on Monday on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi/NCR till Nov 1, restoring its previous order of November 2016 that suspended the licences for the sale of firecrackers permanently.
However, this has left the traders and shopkeepers concerned and resentful of the Supreme Court order which came just 10 days before the festival on October 19 . They feel the decision came too late for them to pre-empt the losses.
Meanwhile doctors and environmentalists have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision and hoped it would ensure a relatively cleaner Diwali this year.
Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan urged the people to abide by SC guidelines and “give green Diwali and our environment a chance.”
“It is a welcome move. The air of Delhi is anyway saturated with pollutants at this time of the season as paddy stubble burning starts and temperature drops. Diwali fireworks only compound the problem,” Bhure Lal, chairman, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) said.
Going by the prevailing conditions, wherein the air quality is already ‘very poor’ in many parts of the city, the situation may spiral out of control if firecrackers are set off indiscriminately during Diwali, according to SAFAR
But for over a 1,000 people who are involved in the firecracker industry in New Delhi Sadar Bazaar, are staring at loss to the revenue of more than ₹700 crore. The firecrackers market in Delhi-NCR is Rs 2,000 crore.
“Supreme Court‘s concern for environment protection is appreciable, but putting a sudden ban on the sale of crackers in Delhi-NCR — which is a centuries’ old legitimate business protected under Constitution of India under Right to Work – is unfair and also against India’s festival culture,” CAIT secretary general, Praveen Khandelwal told reporters.
The traders also cited apprehensions over smuggling of crackers from the adjoining states as those states do not come under the ambit of Supreme Court’s order.
As there is no ban on burning of crackers, people will buy these from adjoining states. “This will give rise to smuggling of crackers from adjoining states to Delhi. It’ll be sold illegally at a much higher price. Illegally procured crackers are unsafe too,” said Devraj Baweja, president, Delhi Vyapari Mahasangh
On the issue of plight of traders involved in firecracker industry, CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said, “We’ve urged the government to rise to the occasion and file a review in Supreme Court. We have due respect for the apex court and are duty bound to obey its orders, but it will be beneficial for the entire trading community if the order is reviewed at least for this Diwali.”
Meanwhile Delhi BJP spokesman Tejinder Singh Bagga said he would distribute firecrackers among the children living in the slums in the Hari Nagar Assembly as it would not be violative of Court’s order, since it only banned the sale of firecrackers. It has not put a ban on buying or bursting them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]