Hyderabad: The residents of Hyderabad thought that this Diwali will bring them pleasant and eco-friendly environment as the Union Health Ministry has issued some guidelines to use only less-polluting green firecrackers. But this is not going to happen this year too. Firecracker sales are already up in the city, but no one is selling 'green fire crackers'.

The Minister for Health, Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has recently claimed that a government agency called-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) in Nagpur has started making green fire crackers which are "no less illuminating or less attractive compared to the usual ones”.

Green crackers are with 30% less emissions than usual one's which release more pollutants and fumes upon combustion. The crackers would also be marked with a Quick Read (QR) code, which people can scan using their smartphones and check the pollutant levels of a particular cracker.

But the manufacturers who have been given these guidelines of new standards said that green crackers are only for New Delhi and few northern cities where there is a high level of pollution.

There only around 1000 manufacturers who have been given this formula. Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu is the major hub for manufacturing crackers and most of the exports take place from this town to different parts of the country, particularly, Northern India.

“The crackers that were produced in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, as per the new norms are moving to the northern part of the country. Since it is already facing problems due to heavy air pollution, the demand for these kinds of crackers is higher over there,”-said Manik Rao, member, Telangana Firecrackers Dealers’ Association.

We as Hyderabadis let's take a step forward and celebrate eco friendly Diwali this year by reducing the bursting of crackers which produce more sound and release more pollutants upon combustion.
This Diwali let's join hands to make air less polluted !

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