Diwali, an ode to hope, happiness and homecoming. A festival that brings the entire nation together where about 1.3 billion people celebrate it by lightening diyas, making scrumptious food and bursting firecrackers. Oh! Wait. Did I just mention ‘Firecrackers’? Well, as the word has become a little sensitive nowadays, you need to be cautious before commenting on anything related to it. On October 9, merely ten days ahead of Diwali, The apex court of the country sent shockwaves throughout the capital city by reinstating the November 11, 2016 ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR to be in effect till Nov 1. Thus, provoking mixed reactions from across the nation. Twitter witnessed a number of reactions; some applauding the judgement while others were seen giving it a communal colour.
The court’s order has significantly split people around the nation. While those concerned with Delhi’s deteriorating air condition and its rampant effects on the health of the citizens have welcomed the move, another part of the population seems to be unhappy with the order, calling it as extreme, unjustified and perhaps inadequately thought through which is inconsiderate of the religious sentiments of the people. But hearing upon the concerns of the traders and the masses, the SC does seem to be undermining its own reputation in the eyes of the people. Even if the Supreme Court’s order is backed with noble and generous intentions, the decision should have been planned well ahead of time with proper implementation strategy. After banning the sale of firecrackers in Nov last year, the order was lifted on Sep 12 this year allowing up to a maximum of 500 temporary licences across Delhi. Thus traders got fresh stocks in the market along with the remaining stock from previous year and now about 50 lakh kg of firecrackers is waiting to be sold in the Delhi-NCR. The court’s ban has definitely evoked anger among the citizens and the traders on account of the religious and traditional sentiments of the people being hit along with huge losses to the firecracker industry.
Also why the ban does not seem to be an efficient instrument is because of the fact that its 100% enforcement is not practically possible. Even the SC on Oct13, while hearing a plea by some traders (to allow them to proceed their sales for at least a day or two), acknowledged that the ban doesn’t mean a Diwali without crackers. "We haven’t stopped the bursting of crackers. That will happen. Sale had already taken place”. This remark has itself proved that such a drastic decision came out to be of no use especially when it was certain beforehand that people will be bursting crackers by bringing them from outside Delhi or maybe through illegal selling.
Of course, the fact that every year we find Delhi engulfed in tons of pollution and disastrous gases, after Diwali, imposing serious health risks cannot be ignored. Thus the case for controlling and restricting is completely undeniable and the court’s efforts for the same are definitely to be applauded but the court should have devised a more thoughtful response than a last minute arbitrary ban. It could have restricted timings for bursting crackers or for their sale. Stage firework displays could have been opted which would be broadcasted on TV akin to what London does on New Year’s Eve every year. Or maybe before going for such an extreme step prior notice would have been given to traders so that they would invest their money in gifts and sweets rather than firecrackers.
While the nation stands divided with their conflicted opinions regarding the ban what needs to be observed is whether the experiment of the court would really be able to bring some notable changes in the pollution levels or not. But we deeply hope that even if this move disregarded the religious and economical aspects of the community, it does bring some respite to Delhi’s existing environmental crisis.
-Harshita Singh
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