With concerns of the city’s environment which deteriorates at an alarming rate during Kali Puja and Diwali, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board today issued an order allowing the sale and bursting of green firecrackers in the state for a limited time period during the upcoming festive season.
According to the latest order, bursting of green firecrackers will be permitted only for a fixed period of two hours between 8 pm and 10 pm on the festival of Diwali. On Chhath Puja, bursting of the green crackers has been allowed from 6 am till 8 am. For celebrations of Christmas and New Year, a 35 minutes’ window from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am has been given.
The board has announced a complete ban on the sale and bursting of all kinds of firecrackers in the state, except the environment-friendly ones, until further orders.
Apart from the festivals mentioned in the order, prior permission from the district magistrate/ commissioners of police/ superintendents of police has been made compulsory by the board for the use of only green crackers for a limited period of two hours.
In addition, mentioning the earlier rulings of the Supreme Court in the year 2018 and the National Green Tribunal in 2020, the state pollution control board has ordered strict compliance of all terms and conditions regarding the bursting of firecrackers.
The state PCB in its order also claimed that as per the latest assessment, the air quality of the districts and Kolkata was at a moderate/satisfactory level till the third week of this month.