Walking into Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar, on the surface it looks like there are no crackers being sold, as you walk deeper into the market you see the odd stall selling “crackers for children.” LawMic’s undercover team asked the vendors what crackers they are selling and the reply is always “this is all we have, government has stopped us from selling openly.” You ask for a box of crackers, the vendor walks into another store grabs exactly as many boxes you asked for hands it to you. These crackers being marketed at children, actually produce large amounts of smoke when lit and have no QR code on the packet. Just text on the packaging which says ‘eco-friendly.’
In a significant ruling regarding firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region, the Supreme Court relaxed the blanket ban for a limited period, allowing the sale and bursting of certified green crackers for Diwali. Green crackers are permitted on November 7 and 8, during two specific time slots each day (6:00 AM to 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM). The year-round and total ban on conventional crackers will resume on November 9.
The Supreme Court observed that a blanket ban on crackers was encouraging a flourishing black market for illegal, unverified conventional crackers, whereas regulating green crackers provides a monitored path. The reality on ground, seems to disagree with uncertified crackers making their way into markets much earlier than Diwali week.
As you walk deeper into the market, you find stores with crackers on display and crowds frantically buying crackers. The vendor at such a stall, told LawMic’s team that the traders union or what he says is the “commitee” had asked some stalls at the front of the market to not put up their stall and instructed others to operate on the low down. He says on days there are checks, the stalls cannot be seen on the roads at the front of the market but they will be available again on and off.
While the stores you find with crackers on display are deeper in the market, these stalls have more crackers like smaller ground crackers like bombs, sparklers, flower pots. ‘1000 walas’ were also available at one store.
One vendor even told us, “you will get everything here.” The important fact is that this was just a week after the Supreme Court asked the government to strictly regulate the sale and use of crackers and only permit certified green crackers.
Green cracker sales are legally permitted exclusively for a brief period typically starting only two to three days before Diwali. Even during these few days, crackers cannot be sold by regular shopkeepers; sales are restricted entirely to government-designated locations mapped out by District Collectors and police authorities.
Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari “Sentiment should not take over something as important as air quality, the debate is wrongly put. Just calling something green doesn’t mean it is something that is not going to harm you.”
Despite the strict regulations, these uncertified crackers which no QR codes on the packaging are being sold in Delhi in the name of green crackers, on what you can technically term as the black market. LawMic’s investigation reveals that Delhi’s big markets have unlicensed sellers selling whatever crackers they can get their hands on. Some were even selling crackers which they say were allowed by the authorities and have a green label, but feature no QR code or CSIR-NEERI certification on the packaging.
Environmentalist Kandhari also added that green crackers don’t automatically mean healthy, “How do you justify crackers? All these metals and gases are extremely hazardous.The doctors have openly and said so much about this. Why are courts and enforcement agencies not listening to this?”
Red flags to spot when you are buying green crackers
- A CSIR-NEERI logo without a QR code
- A QR code that will not scan or opens an ordinary website
- Details that do not match on the official website
- A sticker over the original print hiding the real one
- The word “green” or “eco-friendly” without a logo or QR
What you need to look for:
- Green fireworks logo with CSIR-NEERI on the item’s own box
- A working QR code next to the logo
- Opens product details in the CSIR-NEERI website
- Brand and product on the website match the box
“There is a legal boundary. Advocacy sounds good but it cannot be a court mandate. The accountability gap has to be addressed, that is where the court has to come in. Enforcement is the missing link” says Kandhari.
While self-regulation may seem like the ideal situation, despite strict regulations to only sell certified green crackers and only on stipulated dates, the reality on ground is far from ideal.
