Today, 25 November, 2016, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising the Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice S.A. Bobde banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and NCR region until further orders due to the alarming rise in air pollution in the region. The Supreme Court also asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file a report within three months regarding the harmful effects of firecrackers.
The sale of firecrackers will be enforced from today (25 November) itself till further orders.
The court asked the central government to immediately suspend the licenses of those who stock them. It may be noted that due to rising air pollution in Delhi, earlier Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung had also decided to ban use of firecrackers, except at religion functions. Environmentalists were seeking an order from the court for ban on sale of firecrackers due to alarming increase in level of pollution in the national capital region.
Since the ban appears to be only on sale of firecrackers in Delhi, it is not clear whether it would lead to stopping of bursting of firecrackers since people may still buy firecrackers from nearby states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and bring them into Delhi to burst them here.
