Telangana govt permits sale, use of green crackers

A fresh Government Order (GO) was issued on November 13, superseding a previous directive on November 12, which imposed an immediate ban on sale and use of firecrackers following HC directions.

Hyderabad:The Telangana government has permitted the sale and use of green crackers following Supreme Court orders modifying High Court directive to the state to ban the use of fireworks citing COVID-19 pandemic.

The specified time period for the bursting of crackers is between 8 PM and 10 PM on Deepavali day (Saturday).

A fresh Government Order (GO) was issued on November 13, superseding a previous directive on November 12, which imposed an immediate ban on sale and use of firecrackers following HC directions.

"In supersession of the orders issued in the G.O. 1st read above, Government keeping in view the orders of the Supreme Court of India in the reference 2nd read above hereby order that only green crackers shall be sold and used.

The timings for use and bursting of crackers is restricted to two hours i.e., 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm on Deepavali day," the GO said.

The Member Secretary of Telangana Pollution Control Board shall initiate a special drive to contain air pollution from all sources in view of potential aggravation of COVID-19 and shall regularly monitor the air quality during the said period and upload in the respective website, the GO said.

It said the state DGP, DG of Fire Services, Member Secretary of state Pollution Control Board, the district Collectors, Commissioners of Police and Superintendents of Police in the state shall take necessary action accordingly.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had modified a Telangana High Court order imposing a complete and immediate ban on the sale of firecrackers in the state during Diwali, saying the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT) on bursting of firecrackers keeping in mind the pollution level be followed.

The NGT, on November 9, imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) till November 30 midnight.

It had said the direction of the complete ban will apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November 2019 was in 'poor' and above categories.

It, however, had said that in cities or towns where air quality is 'moderate' or below, only green crackers be sold.

The Telangana High Court on November 12 came out with an order asking the state government to ban the sale and use of firecrackers and it was challenged by the Telangana Fire Workers Dealers Association (TFWDA) in the top court.

Two other southern states-- Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, have allowed the use of green crackers during Deepavali.

PTI Report