The Punjab government said on Friday that this festive season, only green crackers will be allowed in the state for a very short duration of two hours.
State Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said in compliance with various directions of the Supreme Court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the state government is encouraging use of green crackers.
He said as the festive season of Diwali, Gurupurab, Christmas, and New Year is approaching, the department would allow only green crackers that do not use barium salt or compounds of antimony, lithium, mercury, arsenic, lead, or strontium chromate.
Meet Hayer said only green crackers can be busted on Diwali (from 8 pm to 10 pm), Gurpurab (from 4 am to 5 am and from 9 pm to 10 pm), Christmas Eve (from 11:55 pm to 12:30 am), and New Year Eve (from 11:55 pm to 12:30 am).
The minister said the manufacture, stock, distribution, sale, and use of joined firecrackers (series crackers or laries) is banned in the state. He said it had also been directed that the sale shall be through licensed traders for the permitted firecrackers only.
He said no e-commerce websites including Flipkart, Amazon, and others should accept any online orders and affect online sales within Punjab.
The minister said the Punjab Pollution Control Board has been directed to carry out short-term monitoring in the selected cities of the state. He said the police authorities shall ensure the sale and use of allowed green fire crackers during the permitted time and at designated places adding that any violation of the directions will invite immediate penal action.
Meet Hayer made an appeal to the general public to encourage community fire cracking at pre-identified areas designated by the concerned authorities.