Why Has India Banned Firecrackers?

The Indian Supreme Court last month introduced legislation banning the sale of firecrackers inside New Delhi and the entirety of the National Capital Region (NCR). The decision came after the city endured two weeks of the worst air quality in its history, arising as a result of the festival Diwali.

The Hindu celebration of lights involves many fireworks and firecrackers being let off into the night sky, which in turn release a myriad of different contaminants into the air. Following incredibly poor air quality, local residents have campaigned to ban the sale of the pyrotechnics and the Supreme Court has acceded to their demands.

A critical problem made worse

India has long struggled with poor air quality issues, with nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels over the megacity New Delhi particularly concerning. The 16 million people which call the region home are regularly exposed to some of the poorest air quality in the world, but the situation spiralled out of control in the wake of the Diwali celebrations.

Schools and businesses were closed across the city as pollution levels reached almost 10 times the level considered “safe” by the World Health Organisation (WHO), leading to a plethora of angry protests and several court cases lodged by disgruntled citizens.

“This year, shortly after Diwali season was over, we had the worst instance of pollution in 20 years,” explained Gopal Sankaranarayanan, a lawyer representing three couples who filed one such case. “It was pretty bad in the 10 days to two weeks following Diwali.”

A breakthrough ban

The three parents had filed a petition to the government to ban the sale of firecrackers, arguing that the pollution they caused threatened to overwhelm the lungs of their young children. Studies have shown that younger members of the population are more susceptible to developing life-threatening ailments from polluted air because their lungs are not developed enough to filter out the toxins.

In response, the Supreme Court banned “possession, stocking and selling” of the pyrotechnics and commissioned further research into the harmful contaminants contained within them over the next three months.

It’s hoped that the prohibition of firecrackers will do much to alleviate Delhi’s reputation as one of the world’s most polluted cities. Previous incentives to discourage the setting off of the fireworks were met with resistance by inhabitants of the city, but hopefully the legislation (which came into effect on the 25^th of November) will be a greater deterrent.

First step in the right direction?

Despite the Supreme Court decision, Mr Sankaranarayanan was still critical of the Indian government’s response to the air quality crisis. Pointing to countries like China, where a comprehensive overhaul of the air monitoring infrastructure has taken place, he said this measure was a token gesture which didn’t address the root cause of the problem.

“The first step in any of this is a source apportionment study over a 12-month period so you know exactly what is causing the highest levels of pollution over the year,” he explained. “China did it when it was facing problems, Indonesia did it, Dubai does it - but we don’t. And still to date, despite [Delhi] being called the most polluted city in the world, the government has not commissioned a source appointment study.”