SC Prohibits Barium Crackers Across India

New Delhi: The order banning firecrackers containing barium binds every state and is not just limited to Delhi-NCR region, which is reeling under severe air pollution, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

The clarification by the top court, which had in 2018 banned the bursting of conventional firecrackers to curb air and sound pollution, will have ramifications across the nation. A bench of Justices A.S. Bopanna and M.M. Sundresh asked the Rajasthan government to comply with its earlier directions on bursting of firecrackers during Diwali.

“Sensitising common people about the harmful effects of firecrackers is the key. Ironically, nowadays children don’t burst many firecrackers but elders do. It is a wrong perception that it is the duty of the court when it comes to pollution and environment protection. People have to come forward. It is for everyone to manage air and sound pollution,” the bench said.

The top court was hearing an intervention application filed in a pending petition seeking a ban on firecrackers. The application sought directions to the Rajasthan government to take steps to check air and sound pollution and impose a ban on firecrackers in Udaipur city during Diwali and weddings.

The bench, while keeping the application pending said, “...no specific orders are required to be passed in the application as the court has passed several orders to check air and sound pollutants. The said orders bind every state including Rajasthan and the state government should take note of it not only during the festive season but thereafter.”