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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday authorized the use of safer firecrackers and for a two-hour period at the Hindu festival in Diwali, a judge said, when fires broke out. Artifice add to the toxic smog in the capital, New Delhi.
A group of activists had asked the Supreme Court to completely ban fireworks, as the level of pollution increases in the city of more than 20 million residents before Diwali next month.
Judge Arjan Kumar Sikri said that only licensed traders would be allowed to sell firecrackers and ban online sales.
The air quality index, which measures the concentration of toxic particles, has exceeded 300 in parts of Delhi in recent days. Anything over 100 is considered unhealthy by the Federal Pollution Control Board.
(Report of Suchitra Mohanty, Writing of Neha Dasgupta, Edited by Sanjeev Miglani)
