'Green Crackers Rarely Meet Threshold': Experts On Firework Curbs In Delhi

Every winter, a familiar trope, a suffocating routine, awaits Delhi. Temperatures drop, winds calm down, and the skies turn a gloomy grey. As the season changes, the pollution becomes worse - thanks to festive emissions, vehicular pollution, construction dust, stubble-burning residue, and more.

Research conducted by Dr Manoj Kumar of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) revealed that Diwali 2026 was the fourth most polluted day of the year, registering a staggering daily average PM2.5 concentration of 257. The preceding days - November 5, 6, and 7 - also ranked among the worst air quality days of 2026, securing the sixth, seventh, and eighth spots, respectively. Diwali 2026 also marked the fourth most polluted Diwali since 2016.

As the numbers trickle in, conversation circles back to the cause of pollution. This year, firecrackers became the centre of a polarised debate, especially over regulation and "green" alternatives.

The "Green" Alternative

The key debate this year was regarding the manufacturing and marketing of green crackers, developed under the CSIR-NEERI framework to target a minimum 30 per cent reduction in particulate matter compared to conventional variants.

NDTV spoke to environmentalist Abhiir Bhalla on greener alternatives.

Bhalla explains, "Green crackers are nothing more than greenwashing. Documented evidence shows that so-called 'green crackers' rarely meet the prescribed emission thresholds. If a bureaucrat like Tukaram Mundhe were overseeing manufacturing and supervision with strict, uncompromised enforcement, maybe we could talk, but right now? It's just another term invented to throw dust in our eyes - literally."

Offering a technical look at the framework, environmentalist Siddhant Sarang notes that while green crackers are a step towards reducing the environmental impact of firecrackers, they should not be mistaken for pollution-free crackers.

"The CSIR-NEERI framework requires green crackers to demonstrate a minimum 30% reduction in particulate matter emissions compared with conventional crackers or meet prescribed combinations of particulate and gaseous emission reductions. This is a meaningful technological intervention, but a reduction in emissions per cracker does not automatically translate into a proportionate reduction in overall pollution. The total number of crackers used, duration of bursting, concentration of use in particular areas and prevailing weather conditions all matter," he says.

Sarang further flags how ground-level enforcement failures allow conventional crackers to flood markets disguised with fake certification logos and QR codes, completely defeating the purpose of the policy.

Analysing Spikes Beyond Festivals

While experts agree that firecrackers are not the sole cause of Delhi's year-round crisis, their immediate devastation is undeniable.

An IIT-Delhi study published in 2022 found that fireworks account for roughly 95 per cent of elemental PM2.5 during peak celebrations.

Sarang, noting the public health stakes, says that while firecrackers release large quantities of pollutants over a very short period, it would be "incorrect to attribute" the entire post-Diwali pollution burden to just them.

"Firecrackers intensify the immediate pollution spike, while vehicular emissions, industrial activity, construction dust, biomass burning and unfavourable winter meteorological conditions contribute to the wider and more persistent pollution crisis. We need to address both the festival-related pollution spike and the structural sources of pollution throughout the year," he says.

Echoing this, Bhalla adds: "We need to stop treating firecrackers as the sole alpha and omega of our air pollution crisis, but we also shouldn't downplay their immediate devastation. Firecrackers cause massive, concentrated toxic spikes right after festivals like Diwali, shooting PM2.5 levels off the charts overnight. However, science and data tell us that Delhi's crisis is a year-round, regional fossil-fuel and governance problem. Stubble burning accounts for only a minor slice of the annual pie, and crackers are a severe seasonal shock. But the baseline poison comes from our vehicles, industrial clusters in the airshed, secondary particles, and year-round dust."

Enforcement Void And Data Blindspot

The Supreme Court of India ruled out a complete national blanket ban on firecrackers. Instead, the top court took an approach that permits regulated use of certified green crackers during designated hours while leaving localized restrictions to state and municipal authorities.

Talking about enforcement, Bhalla points to areas across Delhi where timing violations and late-night celebrations go unpunished due to reactive, weak enforcement.

"If you look at community compliance, it's a complete failure. Enforcement is weak because authorities only react when the AQI hits severe levels, instead of acting proactively," he says.

"Real change requires stringent checks at the point of sale and active community policing, not just empty advisories," Bhalla says.

Further, CREA's findings reveal alarming data gaps during the peak of the pollution event.

Missing Data: 36 monitoring stations lacked hourly PM2.5 data at 1 am on November 9, right when pollution levels peaked amid stagnant atmospheric conditions.

The Capping Problem: Stations like Siri Fort maxed out at 1,000 - the absolute ceiling displayed on the CPCB-CCR public portal. Because the portal cannot display readings above this threshold, critical questions remain about how accurately extreme, off-the-chart toxin concentrations are being communicated to the public.

Call For Accountability

Ultimately, as Sarang frames it: "The Supreme Court's approach reflects an attempt to balance environmental concerns with the right to celebrate, moving away from an outright prohibition towards regulated use. But the real test of any such policy is whether it delivers measurable improvements in air quality."

He said the debate should not be reduced to a binary choice between a complete ban and unrestricted celebrations.

"What matters is whether regulation is scientifically backed, consistently enforced and supported by public cooperation. Otherwise, we risk repeating the same cycle every year, where restrictions are announced before Diwali, but their effectiveness remains questionable," Sarang says.

Bhalla notes, "Every year, we witness this theatrical cycle of October-January outrage followed by absolute amnesia. When the Supreme Court opts for a regulated approach rather than a complete national blanket ban, it tries to walk a tightrope, but it completely ignores ground realities. Religion has nothing to do with choking our children. Diwali is about light, not a toxic gas chamber. A regulatory framework on paper means nothing when enforcement is practically non-existent."