Ahead of the Diwali festival; Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) issued a public notice asking people to celebrate the festival with green crackers.
In the detailed circular the board has said that in the urban areas of Ranchi, Ramgarh, Bokaro, Palamu, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Godda, Pakur and Sahebganj only green crackers will be allowed. These districts were recorded as moderately polluted during the last year Diwali.
But the common people are confused over the concept of green crackers.
“After a lot of internet research I could understand that green crackers cause around 30 per cent less pollution than an average cracker. But I don’t know how to identify green crackers. State government should disseminate information about green crackers besides how to recognize it,” said Arun Kumar Mishra, a resident of Kanke road.
Rajiv Lochan Bakashi, member secretary of JSPCB, however, clarified that green crackers can be identified by a green logo on the product. As per the rule any green cracker will contain the logo of the CSIR-NEERI (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research – National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute) and PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation) along with a QR code.
Green crackers don’t contain harmful and banned chemicals like lithium, arsenic, barium and lead that cause air-pollution.
Green cracker is relatively a new concept developed by scientists at CSIR-NEERI as per the direction of Supreme Court which in 2017 advocated use of low emission crackers.