In Uttarakhand, the state government has permitted the sale of green crackers in six cities and restricted bursting of crackers for two hours on Diwali, Gurpurab and Chhath in view of the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) directions amid the Covid-19 pandemic and surge in levels of air pollution.
As per the official Press release, these six cities are Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Haldwani Rudrapur, and Kashipur. While the state government has fixed a time slot of 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali and Gurpurab for bursting of the crackers, green crackers can be burst from 6 am till 8 am on Chhath day.
The NGT had reserved its order on the issue of imposing a temporary ban on the use and sale of firecrackers across the country in a bid to protect vulnerable people from the increase of air pollution amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The NGT has directed cities and towns in the country with ‘moderate’ air quality to only allow the sale of green crackers and restricted timings to burst them during festivals.
