SC said it is not inclined to completely ban firecrackers but warned authorities that orders are meaningless without ground-level enforcement

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Thursday said it was not inclined to completely ban firecrackers, but there was no point in passing orders and directions every year unless authorities implement them on the ground.“It concerns every living being,” a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale observed while hearing a matter on the bursting of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR.Additional solicitor-general Aishwarya Bhati told the bench about the measures taken by Delhi govt and Commission for Air Quality Management to deal with air pollution.“There is no point in passing orders and directions unless you give effect to them on the ground, otherwise, it becomes a mockery,” the bench observed, while stressing enforcement.While saying that it was not an adversarial matter, the bench observed that authorities have to take up the issue seriously and take action. “You have to really regulate it. Every year we are trying to balance it out but unless there is cooperation from everyone, it can’t be done,” it said.“We also understand the sentiments of the public. We are not inclined to completely ban, but don’t push us to take a very harsh stand,” the bench told Bhati.Bhati said a series of measures have been taken which would come into effect from Nov, including curbs on older vehicles, construction and demolition activity and staggered office timings in Delhi. “We are geared up to deal with the pollution season which unfortunately happens,” she said.Centre also told the bench that its internal consultation on the issue pertaining to the use of barium in firecrackers was going on. Bhati requested the bench to grant three weeks to complete the consultation.The top court was hearing two petitions, including a suo motu case concerning air pollution in NCR covering issues like firecrackers, stubble burning and solid waste management. The other plea relates to a ban on manufacturing firecrackers.

During the hearing, an advocate, assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae in the suo motu case, said bursting firecrackers releases a huge amount of hazardous particulate matter (PM) which enters the human body and causes damage to lungs and other organs.She said during Dussehra last week, there was a spike in the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR. Flagging the issue of enforcement, the amicus said there was no proper mechanism to assess whether the firecrackers which are being sold are actually green crackers.The bench had said that a middle ground would have to be found by specifying hours during which firecrackers could be used.