“You have more firecrackers than the Indian Army. This can burn the whole country,” the Supreme Court said on Monday, after it was informed that 50 lakh kgs of fireworks were stocked in and around the National Capital Region (NCR).
A Bench of Justices Madan. B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta also observed that “Diwali is celebrated for around five days. In those five days, 10 lakh kilogrammes of firecrackers are used per day.”
The apex court was left wondering when it was informed by one of the counsel that around 50 lakh kgs of firecrackers were lying in stock with the suppliers and distributors in the NCR and around 1 lakh kgs was in stock in Delhi alone.
The Bench also wanted to know from the central government what steps it has taken so far on banning Chinese firecrackers, when the counsel for the domestic manufacturers alleged that there was “no quality control” on these foreign items. The counsel for manufacturers claimed that the firecrackers imported from China were “much cheaper”, but a lot of banned materials were used in them and there was no quality control.
“What have you (Centre) done about banning Chinese firecrackers,” the Bench asked Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, who said she would take instructions on the issue and get back to the court.
