National Green Tribunal bans sale of firecrackers in NCR from Nov 9-30

The National Green Tribunal on Monday ordered imposition of a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the national capital region or any other city or town across the country where the average ambient air quality from November 910 to the midnight of November 30December 1 falls under the poor and above categoryA bench of NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel passed the order on a batch of petition seeking remedial action against the use and sale of firecrackers amid the double whammy of pollution crisis and rising coronavirus infectionsThe green tribunal emphasised that citizens were entitled to breathe fresh air a right cannot be defeated on the ground that enforcement of such right will lead to the closing of such business activityIt ordered There will be total ban against the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the NCR from midnight of November 910 2020 to the midnight of November 30December 1 2020 to be reviewed thereafter National capital region includes Delhi Gurugram Faridabad Noida Greater Noida Ghaziabad Muzaffarnagar Bhiwani Karnal Sonipat Meerut Hapur Charki Dadri Panipat Rohtak Jind Bhagpat and Bulandshahr However the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday announced that people are allowed to sell and burst firecrackers for two hours on DiwaliThese directions will also apply to all the cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November as per the available data of last year falls under the poor and above categoryThe cities or towns where air quality is moderate or below only green crackers be sold and the timings for use and bursting of crackers be restricted to two hours during festivals like Diwali Chatt New Year or Christmas Eve etc as may be specified by the concerned state the green court addedThe bench also comprising of Judicial Member SK Singh and Expert Members Dr SS Garbyal and Dr Nagin Nanda further ordered that if nothing is specified by the state timing for imposition of ban will be 8 to 10 pm on Diwali and Gurpurb 6 am to 8 am on Chatt and 1155 pm to 1230 am during Christmas and New year eveAt other places bans or restrictions are optional for the authorities but if there are more stringent measures under orders of the authorities the same will prevailAll States UTs Pollution Control Boards and committees have been directed to initiate special drives to contain air pollution from all sources in view of the potential of aggravation of COVID19 The Chief Secretaries and the DGPs have been asked to issue and circulate orders with appropriate enforcement guidelinesThe Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board or Committees may regularly monitor the air quality during this period which may be uploaded on their respective websites The CPCB has been asked to compile information on the subject including the status of compliance of the order from all the states or UTs and file a consolidated report on December 1Prior to the order Odisha Rajasthan Sikkim Delhi and UT Chandigarh had prohibited sale and use of fire crackers to protect the vulnerable groups like elderly children persons with comorbidities and others considering the potentially harmful consequences of burning of crackers amidst Covid19 pandemic situation and approaching winterKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever