The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear in the second week of January a plea seeking steps to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR caused by stubble burning in the neighbouring States of Punjab and Haryana.
A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer asked the Ministry of Forests and Environment of both the States to file their response on the plea before the hearing begins.
Pending applications
It said all pending applications, including one by manufacturers of firecrackers and compliance report of States with regard to use of green crackers, will be taken up for hearing next month.
On October 23, the apex court had said that firecrackers can be be burst from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. only on Diwali and other festivals, and had allowed the manufacture and sale of just “green crackers”, which have low emission of light, sound and harmful chemicals.
It had said that the issue of pollution through stubble burning will be dealt with separately.
Some exceptions
The court had carved out an exception for Christmas and New Year’s eve, saying that firecrackers for these occasions will be burst between 11.55 p.m. and 12.30 a.m., since these celebrations start at midnight.
However, it had allowed firecrackers which had already been produced to be sold in other parts of the country — but not in Delhi — for this Diwali and other festivals and occasions, including weddings.
For Gurpurab, the court had allowed bursting of fireworks for one hour in the morning, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., and for one hour in the evening, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Limit on firecrackers
The court had also banned the manufacture, sale and use of joined firecrackers (series crackers or ‘laris’) saying they cause “huge air, noise and solid waste problems”.
It had said the noise and smoke emission limits of the crackers would have to be approved by the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation.
To curb pollution in Delhi-NCR, the court had directed the Centre, the Delhi government and State governments of the NCR to permit community fire-cracking (for Diwali and other festivals), wherever it could be done.