New Delhi, December 12
Supreme Court: The Supreme Court of the country has asked the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) states to take a final decision on banning the use of firecrackers throughout the year in view of rising pollution.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih asked the Delhi government and other NCR states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to inform the Supreme Court about their decision so that everything can be brought on record.
The bench said that there is a need to impose a ban not only to prevent air pollution but also to prevent noise pollution. The issue of banning the use of firecrackers in these states is yet to be resolved.
“We direct the concerned state governments to take their own decisions regarding the complete ban on the use of firecrackers throughout the year,” the bench said. The Supreme Court said that after the ban, the ban on manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of firecrackers will also come into effect. This order was given by the Supreme Court while hearing a case related to air pollution in the capital. Government departments were also suggested to start using electric vehicles to curb air pollution.
The court also ordered that the restrictions imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) will continue until further orders. The court said that the restrictions will continue until the AQI level comes down. It has to be mentioned that in Delhi NCR between October and December, the residents of the area have to fight with air pollution. Earlier, the court had also pulled up the Delhi government, Delhi Police, Delhi Municipal Corporation and Pollution Control Committee for not implementing the restrictions properly.