The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to give a comparative study on pollution caused by firecrackers and automobiles and observed that people are running after firecrackers and seeking ban on it when it seems that automobile is the bigger polluter.

The top court, however, expressed concern over unemployment caused after it put curbs on fire crackers. “Legal trade cannot be stopped. At best license conditions need to be changed,” a bench led by just SA Bobde said while hearing petition on ban on fire crackers

Court asked the Centre to suggest some way of preventing unemployment in the sector. “We can’t let people go hungry because some others think fire crackers is not good. Moreover, there are areas where crackers could be used without causing much damage, such as community fireworks,” the court said

Tamil Nadu has said that top court’s order banning use of fire crackers had resulted in people losing their jobs.

Court will hear the matter again on April 3.

First Published: Mar 12, 2019 13:37 IST