Fireworks in Delhi-NCR: Fresh plea challenges lifting of Supreme Court ban

India Today , Sunday, October 01, 2017
Correspondent : Harish V Nair
Arjun Gopal, Aarav Bhandari and Zoya Rao Bhasin created history last November when Supreme Court judges, considering the toxic quality of air, banned the sale and stocking of firecrackers, and the issuance of new licenses in Delhi and NCR. The children were between one and three years old then.

Their lawyer, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who is also Arjun's father, convinced the bench how children were the worst affected by pollution. Their lungs are not fully developed, making their systems more vulnerable and prone to lung disease, asthma, coughing, bronchitis, and retarded development of the nervous system and cognitive impairment, he said, representing the youngest ever public interest litigants before the court.

Since the order came after last year's Diwali, it did not result in any immediate relief. But there was hope that things would be better from this year. However, another bench of the court, acting on a plea by cracker manufacturers, lifted the ban on sale of fireworks just a month before Diwali this year, saying "a graded and balanced, and not a radical approach was required to deal with pollution menace in the city".

But the children, now between two and four years old, are not ready to accept defeat. Determined to get the ban restored before this year's Diwali falling on October 19, they have geared up for a second battle by filing a petition challenging the lifting of the ban.

FRESH PLEA

In the fresh plea, Sankaranarayanan has put the blame (for the nixing of the restriction) squarely on the doorsteps of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and other authorities like the Delhi government, accusing them of "suppressing relevant facts" before the SC. The plea said petitioners got possession of "certain documents" carrying specific information only after the judgment lifting the stay was passed on September 12, 2017.

While lifting the ban, the top court had said the authorities had not given any conclusive proof or "empirical data" to prove that bursting of crackers was the sole reason for extremely poor quality of air in Delhi-NCR post-Diwali.

"Unfortunately, neither is it possible to give an accurate or relative assessment of the contribution of the other identified factors nor the contribution of bursting fireworks to the poor air quality in Delhi and in the NCR. Consequently, a complete ban on the sale of fireworks would be an extreme step that might not be fully warranted by the facts available to us. The extent of air pollution caused by bursting fireworks is not clear in the absence of empirical data," said the judgment.

Fireworks have traditionally been an important part of Diwali.

"The CPCB took a stand 20 years ago in Delhi High Court that sulphur in fireworks should not be permitted as the chemical on combustion produces sulphur dioxide which is extremely harmful to health. CPCB then stated that between 9 pm to midnight on Diwali day the levels of sulphur dioxide content in the air is dangerously high. All the above authorities were also unanimous in their view that crackers should only be burst in designated places. In fact the minutes of the meeting held in the office of the L-G clearly stipulate that it can't be burst on the road, but in open spaces/parks," the plea seeking restoration of the ban on crackers said.

"It is submitted that the amicus curiae appointed by the HC in the said case, had filed a report which specifically records the submissions of ministry of environment and CPCB which recommended the instant ban on flying fireworks and bombs. This has been suppressed by all parties who were in the know of events, which has therefore permitted all sorts of fireworks to be permitted by the court."

'NO REASON TO LIFT BAN'

The plea said documents suppressed by CPCB and government included a letter the then CPCB chairman wrote to the L-G in October 1997, stating that Diwali had "become a festival of noise, pollution and fire hazards" and that stringent steps were needed to be taken along with the raising of awareness. Also, a detailed report submitted by the CPCB nearly 20 years ago studied the ambient air pollution during Diwali in the years 1997 and 1998 which showed "the fatal situation that is created annually in the national capital".

"Pollution levels going up during Diwali is not a recent phenomenon or a one off situation but has been occurring over many years. Over time, pollution levels have only become worse. This being the case, there is no reason to lift the ban. There is also no question of having a graded response because that too was suggested in 1997 itself. Facts show there hasn't only been any change in severe pollution but things have become worse," it said.

In May 2014, a report by the WHO found Delhi to be the most polluted city in the world. An SC panel study the same year said air pollution was the fifth-biggest killer in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution from cooking fuels, tobacco smoking and poor nutrition. It said residents of Delhi and Ghaziabad in UP have more reasons to worry as both are among five critically polluted cities.

 
SOURCE : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/diwali-delhi-ncr-supreme-court-ban-on-crackers-fresh-plea/1/1059262.html
 


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