Production, storage, sale, and use of firecrackers will be banned in Delhi this year as well to tackle pollution and the restrictions will remain in place till January 2023, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said Wednesday.
Rai said in a tweet in Hindi: “To protect people from the danger of pollution, the manufacture, storage, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers will be banned in Delhi this year, like previous years. This year, the online sale/delivery of firecrackers will also be banned. The ban will be in force till January 2023.”
The Delhi Police, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and Revenue Department will work together to enforce the ban on firecrackers, which comes ahead of Diwali which will be celebrated in October.
In 2020, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned firecrackers from November 9 to 30 in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in all places where the average air quality that month had dropped below the ‘poor’ category. A ban on firecrackers was in place in Delhi last year as well.
Under measures to be taken when the Air Quality Index (AQI) is in the ‘poor’ category, the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) also says the orders of courts or the NGT regarding the ban on firecrackers are to be strictly enforced.