Green cracker conceived too late to bear fruits before Diwali

| | New Delhi
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Green cracker conceived too late to bear fruits before Diwali

Tuesday, 30 October 2018 | PNS | New Delhi

Green cracker conceived too late to bear fruits before Diwali

Govt agency yet to get nod to produce them

The much-talked about “green” firecrackers would not be available in the market before Diwali and the existing ones will continue to pollute the air despite the Supreme Court allowing only the sale of “green and improved” fireworks that emit lesser toxic emissions.

The Government’s premier scientific research agency, the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), has developed eco-friendly crackers, but they are yet to get approval for production. This means they will not be available in the market for consumers before the festival of lights.

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said it was unlikely that “green” firecrackers would be available in time for this Diwali, though the technology to make them has been developed by the CSIR labs and the fire-crackers manufacturers will have to come forward to avail it.

These crackers have been named as safe water releaser (SWAS), safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) and safe thermite cracker (STAR).

Talking to reporters at the Press conference, Dr Vardhan said the tests have shown a decrease in emission of particulate matter, smoke, noise and toxic gases.

Listing a string of steps to make further improvement in the firecrackers, he said that it is for the first time in the country an emission testing facility has been established at CSIR-NEERI and extensive testing is in progress for conventional and green crackers for monitoring the emissions and sound”, he said.

This facility uses all sophisticated instruments for measurement and sampling when firecrackers are used.

“First, we set up an emission testing facility at NEERI in Nagpur, where all the existing firecrackers and green crackers have been tested.

Then we tested with different chemicals for things like colour, smoke, ability to burst,” he said, adding that the existing firecrackers had four key components that were replaced — aluminium, barium, potasium nitrate and carbon — all of which are polluting and were replaced.

Potasium nitrate (a known carcinogenic) has been removed or reduced, barium (leads to heart and kidney damage) has been removed, aluminium (leads to skin issues and bioaccumulation) has been replaced with less toxic metals like magnesium, he said.

Rakesh Kumar from CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) explained that the system of the firecrackers is such that water molecules will be produced, thus suppressing dust in the air.

These formulations have now been sent to Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) which is the authority responsible for framing rules under the Explosives Act 1884 and Inflammable Substances Act 1952. PESO has been approached to analyse and test SWAS/STAR/SAFAL from point of view of safety, stability and other related issues.

Vardhan added the Government didn’t want to give a “shock treatment” to manufacturers and had kept them in the loop throughout the process of creating these “green” crackers.

“We didn’t want to give a shock treatment to the manufacturers but we are moving in the direction that is less harmful since it is also an emotional issue...they have to apply for the license from PESO for licenses and then they can make these fire crackers,” he said, adding the technology was created while keeping in mind the existing manufacturing facilities at different fire cracker factories.

Brain of scientists of at least nine laboratories of CSIR, including Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Central Leather Research Institute, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, National Botanical Research Institute, National Chemical Laboratory, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute are involved in the project for reduced emission fireworks.

Environment Minister also informed that a raw material characterisation facility is also coming up as “it has been found that many times the poor quality raw materials used in fire crackers are the major sources of particulate matter pollution.” CSIR will be detailing further strengthening by installation of additional facilities for raw materials testing at Sivakasi, he said.

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