Is India’s Supreme Court’s Diwali ban on firecrackers right? Fight air pollution
The Supreme Court of India has put in place a Diwali ban under which it has prohibited sale of firecrackers in national capital Region ( NCR ) Delhi , citing alarming deterioration in air quality levels . A three-judge SC bench, which was headed by Justice AK Sikri, has upheld its own order of 11 November 2016, according to which it suspended all licences which “permit sale of fireworks wholesale and retail within territory of NCR.” The SC said there was “direct evidence of deterioration of air quality at alarming levels” each year during the festival of Diwali due to the bursting of firecrackers. The ruling for Diwali ban is an effort to prevent spike in toxic smog that engulfed Delhi last year and led to the closure of schools, power stations, as well as construction sites. Last year at Diwali , the festival of lights, tens of thousands of firecrackers were burst in Delhi spread over many days. It left the city engulfed by a thick sheet of smog. There was massive increa