The 'Green Cracker' Compromise: Balancing Tradition, Livelihood, and Public Health
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Environment (Air Pollution, PM2.5, Green Crackers); Science & Technology (CSIR-NEERI, PESO); Indian Polity (Role of Judiciary, Article 21).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity & Governance): Role of Judiciary; Governance issues; Balancing Fundamental Rights (Article 21 vs. 19 vs. 25).
General Studies Paper 3 (Environment & S&T): "Environmental pollution and degradation"; "Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life."
General Studies Paper 4 (Ethics): Ethical dilemmas in governance (Public health vs. Livelihood vs. Tradition).
Key Highlights from the News
The Supreme Court partially lifted the ban on the sale of "green crackers" in the Delhi-NCR region, as part of the Diwali celebrations.
This decision is an attempt to balance the "sentiments" of the people towards festivals, public health concerns due to air pollution, and livelihood concerns of those working in the firecracker industry.
The concept of green crackers was first introduced by the Supreme Court in 2018.
CSIR-NEERI developed green crackers, which are claimed to cause at least 30% less particulate emissions compared to traditional firecrackers.
The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) licenses the manufacture of firecrackers.
"Green cracker" is a misnomer because they are not completely pollution-free. "Reduced Emission Fireworks" is a more appropriate term.
Despite the use of green crackers, the air quality remaining "very poor" after Diwali is evidence that either the rules are being violated or these crackers are ineffective under real-world conditions.
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