The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has termed the order of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to ban bursting and sale of all kinds of firecrackers from November 7 to 30, as a blatant violation of order of Supreme Court of India.
The traders’ body has come down heavily on the Delhi Government for being ‘failed’ to protect the livelihood of lakhs of small traders of the National Capital who earn extra income by selling firecrackers as part of their seasonal business on occasion of Diwali.
The CAIT also demanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and CMs of other States to compensate the firecracker traders for the losses they have accrued due to ban on sale of firecrackers.
CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal while terming this move as an axe on the stomach of poor people said that the Supreme Court on 12h March, 2019 while articulating concerns over rising unemployment in the country said that it was not in favour of a complete ban on crackers and instead suggested regulating the polluting aspect of the industry.
“A bench led by Justice AK Sikri had then directed that only green crackers be used and sold throughout the country. Later on, in another hearing of the same case, Justice Bobde while hearing the matter made observations on the lack of employment prospects in the country and observed “We cannot give them jobs and food. Why should we take away what they have?” suggesting a major rethink in the court’s approach to the problem. Instead, he called for regulating the polluting aspects of the problem. In this context, he wondered whether air crackers were a bigger problem than vehicular pollution,” he said.
Justice Bobde also pointed out that crackers held a special place in India unlike in other countries which haven’t banned crackers. “Other alternatives could be explored to deal with cracker-related pollution such as communal bursting of crackers, etc., he suggested. “We do not wish to generate unemployment. Is there any comparative study on what proportion of pollution is caused by firecrackers and what proportion is caused by automobiles?” he added.
Khandelwal has demanded that all Environment Committees in Central Government and State Governments should be suspended immediately as these Committees have failed to draw a conclusion that as to what are the root causes of pollution in the Country and what could be the permanent remedial measures to ensure safe environment and on the other hand smooth conduct of businesses.
“It is ironic that several States including Delhi have banned the sale and bursting of firecrackers without applying mind. It is deeply regretted that without making a comprehensive study of pollution, several short term measures are taken and every time they are aimed to kill the business, be it banning of firecrackers or sealing the shops or imposing unmindful penalty on traders and various several other steps taken from time to time to disturb the trade and commerce in cities of the Country,” he said.
B C Bhartia, National president of CAIT said that the Supreme Court directed to use green crackers but what are the green crackers is yet to be made public. “The firecrackers industry in India provides employment to about 10 lakh people and more than 80 per cent of firecrackers are made in Sivakasi in Tamilnadu where there are about 1100 firecracker manufacturing Industries. The total manufacturing of firecrackers in India amounts to about 5000 crores of rupees. In absence of any clear policy on firecrackers, the Industry is dying its own death,” he said.
