Diwali will be celebrated across Uttar Pradesh with a caveat, as citing Supreme Court orders, the state government has issued a directive saying that firecrackers can be burst for only two hours – from 8 to 10 pm on Diwali night.
A directive in this regard was issued by Principal Secretary Kalpana Awasthi, asking all divisional commissioners, district magistrates and district police chiefs to strictly follow the directive and restrict bursting of crackers between 8 pm and 10 pm on Diwali night.
“The directive was issued following a Supreme Court order in which the apex court restricted hours to burst crackers to two hours as well as stressed on using green crackers,” Awasthi said in the order issued on Wednesday.
The apex court imposed restrictions on the sale and use of firecrackers in a bid to control air pollution. The court said firecrackers with reduced emission and decibel levels could be burst for two hours, from 8 pm to 10 pm. It, however, allowed the timings for bursting of firecrackers to be staggered and determined by respective state governments. But it said that the time should not exceed two hours a day.
The order was issued on October 23, last year.
While the court restricted sale of conventional firecrackers, it allowed ‘green firecrackers’ to be used on Diwali.
Developed by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with eight other government laboratories, the ‘green crackers’ are said to be 30 per cent less polluting than conventional firecrackers.
Awasthi said the apex court had clarified that in case of people not adhering to these guidelines, the local station house officer would be arrested. 
The ban on toxic crackers had come on a petition filed by two infants, a six-month-old and a 14-month-old, through their fathers in 2015. The petition filed on behalf of the two infants said the air pollution caused by various factors, especially firecrackers, had made Delhi a gas chamber and pleaded for their right to life.