Ban on firecrackers in 23 states, NGT to pronounce crucial verdict for Diwali

Earlier this week, NGT requested a response from the Federal Ministry of the Environment, the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, the Central Pollution Control Board, the Delhi Police Commissioner, and the Control Commission of the Delhi Pollution on whether the use of firecrackers should be banned from November 7-30.

On Wednesday, the court expanded the scope of hearings in fireworks pollution-related cases outside of the Delhi-NCR region and issued notices to 19 states and federal districts where air quality exceeds standards.

On Wednesday, referring to 122 unrealized cities in 23 states and federal regions, which consistently showed poor air quality, the Green Court said it may have to consider directives to ban the use of firecrackers during a period where air quality exceeds a threshold to protect the health of vulnerable groups.

The cities not collected include Delhi, Varanasi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Noida, Muzaffarpur, Mumbai, Jammu, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Kolkata, Patna, Jaya, Chandigarh, etc.

Licenses to sell fireworks in Delhi have been suspended Meanwhile, Delhi Police on Sunday suspended all licenses issued to sell fireworks in the national capital and said further action will be taken under NGT directives. Delhi Police wrote on Twitter: "All licenses issued to sell fireworks have been suspended and further action will be taken on NGT directives."

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