Supreme Court Permits Limited Green Fireworks Use During Diwali

Air quality index readings reached 387 on Friday as India’s Supreme Court permitted the limited use of green fireworks for two days during the Diwali festival, even as the capital’s air quality hovers near hazardous levels. Diwali falls on 8 November this year, and Delhi has already entered its winter smog season, with monitoring stations recording severe pollution levels.

Supreme Court Rules on Limited Firework Windows

The Supreme Court permitted low-polluting fireworks to be burst for three hours each on Saturday and Sunday.

The ruling allows use only during two brief daily windows—from 6am to 7am and 8pm to 10pm—on the eve and the day of Diwali. The sale of fireworks brought in from outside the National Capital Region is prohibited.

Breaking News : Delhi में दिवाली पर ग्रीन पटाखों को मिली मंजूरी | Supreme Court on Diwali Crackers

A bench headed by BR Gavai described the decision as a temporary measure and a balancing act. We’re called upon to balance the interests of both the industry and the health of the general public, especially the aged, the ill and the infants, the bench stated. The court noted that a blanket ban imposed seven years ago proved ineffective because illegal fireworks continued to be smuggled into the capital.

Scientists Question Green Firework Claims

Makers of these products maintain that they drop sulphur dioxide and particulate matter levels by 30-40 per cent while keeping noise volumes under 120 decibels. Approved products must carry a QR code issued by NEERI. They were developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute after the Supreme Court banned traditional fireworks in 2018.

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However, scientists and doctors express skepticism regarding their real-world impact. Dr Syed Abdul Aleem, a senior pulmonologist in southern Hyderabad city, noted that these fireworks still release fine and ultrafine particles, such as PM2.5 and PM10, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream.

Research conducted collaboratively by the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and the Delhi Technological University revealed that green fireworks generated massive quantities of ultrafine particles under 100 nanometres that possess the ability to penetrate the deepest areas of the respiratory system. Meanwhile, Dr RJ Krupadam, chief scientist at CSIR-NEERI, stated that researchers have developed compositions capable of reducing emissions by up to 60 per cent. Use of toxic metals including barium, lithium, lead, and mercury remains prohibited across all approved products.

Supreme Court on Green Crackers Delhi| दिल्ली में दिवाली पर पटाखों की अनुमति!|Delhi News |N18V

Enforcement Fails During Winter Smog

Delhi has maintained a ban on fireworks since 2020, but residents continue to defy the prohibition. Mohan George, a former Delhi Pollution Control Committee official, pointed out that fake and mislabelled products continue to flood the market, noting that QR codes and stickers failed to prevent compliance issues when green crackers were tested experimentally in 2018.

Activists argue that the court’s decision disregards medical and legal concerns. Bhavreen Kandhari, founder of Warrior Moms, stated that the ruling ignores what science, medicine, and even past judgments have already established, that there is nothing green about them.

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The festival coincides with the beginning of northern India’s winter smog season, when stagnant air traps smoke from traffic, fireworks, and crop-residue burning. With 28 monitoring stations recording ‘severe’ levels, air pollution in Delhi cuts resident life expectancy by an average of 11.9 years compared to World Health Organisation guidelines, according to a report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

Earlier coverage: Delhi's Air Quality Severe as Pollution Soars to 510 AQI