Bengal's first batch of 20 get final green cracker green light

KOLKATA: Bengal now has its first batch of green cracker manufacturers, with 20 units having received all necessary clearances. The move assumes significance in the backdrop of a crackdown on illegal cracker-manufacturing hubs following the recent deaths of at least 16 people in separate explosions in Egra, Malda and Budge Budge.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee - who on Saturday apologised for the Egra explosion, saying it was a police intelligence failure - had formed a high-level committee, under chief secretary H K Dwivedi, to set up clusters of environment-friendly green fireworks. The idea of the committee was to explore ways to migrate illegal cracker-manufacturing hubs to legal ones, so that people involved in their manufacture and trade do not lose their livelihood, and to create manufacturing clusters away from residential neighbourhoods.
A green cracker - the only type of firework allowed in major cities - is one that is made from alternative raw materials, designed to have a smaller negative impact on the environment and to human health.
Manufacturing green crackers requires clearances from both central and state agencies: the Petroleum Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO), the Bengal fire brigade, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) and the National Environmental Engineering & Research Ins-titute (NEERI).
Single-window system for licences
Sources told TOI that more than 100 fireworks manufacturers underwent training by NEERI, after which they applied for necessary clearances.
Of them, 20 have received clearances. The majority got rejected for insufficient or incomplete documentation with applications. Some had the expertise, but not the space to manufacture and store combustible materials, so they couldn't be issued the licence, said an environment department officer.
More of the manufacturers would be able to get licences once a green-cracker cluster was built, he added.
Environment minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia stressed that the chief minister had a "zero-tolerance policy" with regard to illegal cracker units.
"This is why raids are being carried out across the state. At the same time, she wanted a seamless shift to legal green fireworks. This is why we are introducing a single-window system, where all agencies would work in coordination to issue licences," he said. Departments were working together to finalise logistics for a green-cracker cluster, like identifying land, design and safety measures. "Safety is non-negotiable," Bhunia added.