In view of an alarming condition of air pollution in national capital, the Supreme Court banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and its neighboring areas. The Apex Court also asked the Centre to suspend licenses of firecracker sellers in Delhi & NCR.
The court wants a ban on the sale of fire crackers from today onward till the further order. The court has also asked Central Pollution Control Board to file a report within 3 months concerning the hazardous effects of fire crackers.
So far, the traders were permitted to sell firecrackers if they had a valid license to do so.
The move of the court is not much surprising as it had earlier indicated that it may do something similar in an effort to curb the deadly air pollution level in the region.
After Diwali, Delhi witnessed dangerously high levels of air pollutants and low visibility. The pollution level rose above 17 times higher than the acceptable limit in the capital. In fact, the extent of smog compelled Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to call Delhi a ‘gas chamber’.
Now, no fresh licences will be given to sell firecrackers, and existing licenses will be suspended soon. The court was hearing the petitions for banning fire crackers in the Delhi, NCR for quite some time now.
