Have ‘green’ crackers brought down pollution?

The story so far: In the run-up to Deepavali, the Supreme Court legalised the sale of “green” crackers , in a bid to balance three competing interests: the “sentiments” of the people during the festive season; the pollution caused due to the burning of firecrackers; and livelihood concerns of those employed in the firecracker industry. The largely small-scale informal sector has been hit by the cracker ban in the National Capital Region since 2018.

How are ‘green’ crackers made?

In 2018, the Nagpur-based CSIR-National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) initiated the development of “green” crackers that reportedly cut particulate emissions by a minimum of 30%, and sometimes up to 80%, while maintaining brightness, safety, and shelf-life. This was largely achieved