This year, the state government of Maharashtra has appealed to the citizens to reduce or avoid the use of firecrackers during Diwali. The request was made by CM Uddhav Thackeray and the local administrations keeping the COVID19 cases and environmental conditions in mind. Officials state that the crowd which had gathered during pre-Diwali shopping, and which will continue during the festival might increase in the number of cases at a later stage. To avoid the same to the best possibility, the state government has asked people to celebrate the festival in a simple manner, with the same rules as Ganeshotsav and Navratri.
In addition, Aniruddha Deshpande, from Pune, had filed an urgent PIL seeking directions to ban the sale and use firecrackers in the entire state due to the COVID19 pandemic. However, the Bombay High Court, on Thursday, November 12, disposed of the same as the state has informed the court about issuing a notification regarding the same across nine cities and with the help of 14 local bodies.
Following this, the court directed the state to implement the same by following the guidelines issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding the ban on firecrackers. As per the order, the NGT has banned the sale and use of firecrackers in cities across the country where air quality was noted as 'poor' last year. This order was issued on November 9 citing that the pollution from firecrackers would harm and reduce citizens' immunity and could potentially increase coronavirus cases.
The vacation bench of justices A. K. Menon and Surendra Tawde heard the PIL filed by Deshpande.
The NGT order also states that areas which have ‘moderate’ air quality will be allowed to only burst 'green' crackers, however, only in the specified two hours of the day, and only during the day of Diwali, Chhath Puja, Christmas Eve and New Year. Adding more, the tribunal has directed all states to carry out special operations to curb all sources of pollution in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Chief Secretary has also been directed to inform all the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police about this decision, and accordingly, the state government has informed the district administrations and district police chiefs, said Chief Public Prosecutor PP Kakade.
The bench ruled that there was no need to give further directions in the matter as the state government had taken necessary actions
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