Green Crackers Dilemma: Balancing Diwali Traditions and Environmental Concerns

&NewLine;<p>As the festival of lights&comma; Diwali&comma; approaches&comma; there is a concerted effort to mitigate the impact of celebrations on air quality&period; In the wake of worsening Air Quality Index &lpar;AQI&rpar;&comma; the Delhi government has taken a strict stance by banning all firecrackers&comma; including the so-called green crackers&period; However&comma; in states like Assam&comma; Tamil Nadu&comma; Rajasthan&comma; and West Bengal&comma; green firecrackers have been permitted on the premise that they are less harmful to the environment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The introduction of &&num;8220&semi;eco-friendly&&num;8221&semi; crackers&comma; promoted as green crackers&comma; dates back to 2018 when the Supreme Court imposed a ban on traditional crackers&comma; urging the use of alternatives that are less polluting and produce 30&percnt; less noise&period; Green crackers&comma; according to the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute &lpar;NEERI&rpar;&comma; are designed with a reduced shell size&comma; no ash&comma; and minimal use of raw materials and additives&comma; such as dust suppressants&comma; to specifically reduce emissions of Particulate Matter &lpar;PM&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the question remains&colon; How eco-friendly are these green crackers&quest; While they claim to use zero chemical substances like potassium nitrate&comma; barium nitrate&comma; sulfur&comma; lithium&comma; and aluminum&comma; which supposedly result in 30&percnt; fewer emissions&comma; recent reports have cast doubt on their &&num;8220&semi;green authenticity&period;&&num;8221&semi; In a recent seizure of over 2&comma;311 kg of firecrackers in Delhi&comma; not a single kilogram was found to be genuinely green&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Identifying genuine green crackers can be challenging&comma; but there are methods to verify their authenticity&period; Look for CSIR-NEERI stamps or QR codes on the packaging&comma; as these indicate that the crackers meet certain environmental standards&period; Additionally&comma; check the packaging for specifications on the chemical substances used in the manufacturing process&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Comparing conventional and green crackers&comma; the absence of barium nitrate in green crackers is highlighted as a positive aspect&comma; as barium nitrate is known to contribute significantly to air and noise pollution&period; Instead&comma; green crackers utilize substances like potassium nitrate&comma; which are deemed less polluting&period; These crackers also contain aluminum&comma; lead&comma; and carbon&comma; effectively reducing the emission of harmful gases during combustion&period; To ensure the authenticity of the green crackers and their optimal environmental impact&comma; it is advisable to purchase them from authorized sellers and exercise caution in handling and lighting them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>As communities strive to strike a balance between celebrating traditions and protecting the environment&comma; the debate over the effectiveness and authenticity of green crackers continues&period; Diwali&comma; a festival of joy and lights&comma; prompts a collective effort to adopt practices that uphold both cultural festivities and environmental responsibility&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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