The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday dismissed a petition on how bursting firecrackers is an essential part of Hindu religion and should not be regulated or banned in any manner.
The Ojasvi Party, which claims to have been formed by the son of jailed Godman Asaram Bapu, had moved the tribunal seeking dismissal of a petition which sought for designated areas for bursting firecrackers this festive season.
The Ojasvi Party sought dismissal of a petition filed by advocate Piyush Singh seeking earmarking a place and time wherein and when all the people can come together and witness a show of fireworks, dispensing with the need of crackers being burst in residential areas.
Mr. Singh has also sought directions to the Centre to ensure that chemical composition of firecrackers be restricted to the least-polluting composition; not only with respect to noise but also air pollution. The religious group submitted that ‘firecrackers should not be banned as they are an essential part of Hindu religion and bursting them help in killing insects and other micro-organisms’.
The tribunal, however, dismissed the petition.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment & Forests, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation sought more time to file their replies on Mr. Singh’s petition. The NGT granted them two weeks.
Mr. Singh in his petition said excessive, unmindful, and unsupervised use of firecrackers is adversely affecting the ecosystem. He relied on a judgement of the Supreme Court to say that Diwali is a festival of lights and not noise. The petitioner emphasised that even the raw materials that go into making firecrackers are polluting.
