Punjab Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer has said that the state government is promoting the use of green crackers in accordance with directives from the National Green Tribunal, the Supreme Court, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change.
He claimed that the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment is only permitting green crackers that do not include barium salt or compounds of antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic, lead, or strontium chromate as the holidays of Diwali, Gurpurab, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve draw near.
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According to Meet Hayer, only green crackers could be fired on Diwali (from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.), Gurpurab (from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. and from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.), Christmas (from 11.55 p.m. to 12.30 a.m.), and New Year’s Eve (from 11.55 p.m. to 12.30 a.m.).
The state forbids the production, distribution, storage, sale, and use of fire-crackers, or series of crackers joined together. The only firecrackers that can be sold will be through licenced dealers.
According to Meet Hayer, no online retailers, such as Flipkart or Amazon, will ship crackers from Punjab.
In a few chosen cities, the Punjab Pollution Control Board will conduct short-term monitoring. Meet Hayer stated that any disobedience of the guidelines would result in instant legal action and that the police would make sure that only authorized green firecrackers are sold and used at the appropriate times and locations.
