In a bid to check air and noise pollution, the Delhi Government has imposed a fine of `200 and a six-month jail term for purchasing and bursting of crackers in the national Capital on Diwali.
In a press conference, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday informed that bursting of crackers can attract a jail term of up to six months and a fine of `200.
The Government also said that the production, storage, and sale of crackers in Delhi will be punishable with a fine of up to `5,000 and three years in jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act.
According to Rai, 408 teams have been set up to implement the ban. “The Delhi Police has set up 210 teams under Assistant Commissioners of Police, while the Revenue Department has constituted 165 teams and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee 33,” he said. The Minister further said that a public awareness campaign — Diye Jalao Patakhe Nahi (light diyas, not firecrackers) — will be launched on October 21. The Delhi Government will light 51,000 diyas at the Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday.
In September, the city government re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, including on Diwali, a practice it has been following for the last two years.
The Minister said 188 cases of violations have been detected and 2,917 kg firecrackers seized till October 16.
The air quality in Delhi-NCR start worsening in October, due to unfavourable meteorological factors, such as low temperatures and wind speed, which do not allow dispersion of pollutants. A cocktail of emissions from firecrackers and stubble burning in neighbouring States further dent the air quality. "Therefore, the Delhi Government has imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers this year too. The ban covers online delivery of firecrackers," the Minister said.
Rai urged Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav to ensure the ban on firecrackers is strictly implemented in the entire NCR "as the smoke from firecrackers burst in the region impacts the people in Delhi also.