The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) from the midnight of November 9 to the midnight of November 30.
The order will also apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November (as per available data of last year) fell under the 'poor' and above categories.
"The cities/towns where air quality is 'moderate' or below, only green crackers be sold and the timings for use and bursting of crackers be restricted to two hours during festivals, like Diwali, Chatt, New Year, Christmas, etc, as may be specified by the concerned state," the order said.
The NGT said that restrictions are optional for the authorities at other places, but added that if there are more stringent measures under orders of the authorities, the same will prevail.
Meanwhile, on Sunday the Delhi Police suspended all licenses issued for sale of firecrackers and said that further action will be taken on the National Green Tribunal's directions.
"All licences issued for the sale of firecrackers have been suspended and further action will be taken on NGT directions," tweeted the official Twitter account of Delhi Police.
Police also registered seven cases of selling firecrackers and eight cases of 8 cases of bursting crackers despite the ban. "Seven cases of selling firecrackers registered in Delhi along with the recovery of nearly 595 kilograms of the same. Seven people also arrested in connection with this. Eight cases of bursting crackers registered; one kg of crackers recovered, with the arrest of one person," police said.
With rising COVID-19 cases and air pollution level, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 5 announced a ban on firecrackers in the national capital ahead of Diwali from November 7 to November 30.
