The Supreme Court of India (SC) has, on July 23, dismissed a plea challenging the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) order which imposed a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers in cities, ANI reported.
The order issued in December 2020 directed a “total ban on the sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers” during the COVID-19 pandemic in the national capital region (NCR) and all cities and towns, where ambient air quality or Air Quality Index (AQI) falls under 'poor' or worse category.
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A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel had then further said that its direction to restrict the use of firecrackers in cities/towns where air quality is 'moderate' or below to green crackers and for the duration of not more than two hours will continue.
"There will be a total ban on the sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers during COVID-19 pandemic in the NCR and all cities/towns in the country where the ambient air quality falls under the 'poor' and above category," the bench said.
During Christmas, and New Year, green crackers can be used from 11:55 pm to 12:30 am only at places where air quality is 'moderate' or below, the NGT said.
It also directed all District Magistrates to ensure that banned firecrackers are not sold and asked them to recover compensation from violators. Any victim of pollution, apart from other remedies, can approach the District Magistrate for compensation, it had added.
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