Amritsar residents throng market to buy firecrackers on weekend
A temporary retail firecracker market authorised by the district administration opened for the public in the city on Sunday. Residents bought firecrackers on the weekend for Diwali celebrations. The administration has allowed the sale of only green firecrackers which are approved by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, (CSIR-NEERI) for the festival of lights.
Green firecrackers can be identified by the distinctive green colour logo of CSIR-NEERI, PESO and a Quick Response (QR) code printed on boxes of firecrackers.
Environmentalists said use of green firecrackers would ensure that people, especially children and elderly, do not face breathing problems on the night of Diwali. “Low-emission fireworks free of harmful chemicals and producing minimum sound gradually attract customers,” say traders.
They are of the view that a majority of manufacturers prefer to display on packaging the information that these were green firecrackers and contained less pollutants and produced less noise.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sakshi Sawhney said as per the order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the sale of banned firecrackers was completely prohibited. Only green firecrackers, which were made without lithium, mercury, arsenic, zinc and barium, could be sold and bursted, the DC said. She said no e-commerce site was permitted to sell firecrackers, she said.
She said it was necessary for marriage palace owners to obtain a licence to burst firecrackers during wedding ceremonies and ensure compliance with safety rules. She said firecrackers had bad effects on the environment. Firecrackers noise and pollution had a bad effect on humans as well as animals. People should refrain from bursting firecrackers, the DC said.
Retail traders were of the view that there was 15 to 20 per cent increase in prices of firecrackers in comparison to the last year. They said today being weekend the response of customers towards purchasing firecrackers was good.
