Curbs remained in place in Mysuru against the sale of non-green crackers with officials from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and police continuing to inspect the stalls selling crackers in different places in the city.
A team of officials from KSPCB inspected the cracker stalls at J.K. Grounds here on Sunday. Traders were asked to remove the non-green crackers from the stalls, lest they were confiscated.
The sale of crackers was allowed only after the team checked the stock for green logos and license numbers. Many traders even shifted non-green crackers to their godowns.
When it was brought to the notice of KSPCB team about the argument made by traders recently that all the crackers they were selling were green, KSPCB’s scientific officer Kavitha told reporters that only a small percentage of the crackers sold at J.K. Grounds were found to be green.
Most of them were non-green, she stressed.
Green crackers
CSIR’s National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) had come up with technology to manufacture crackers without the use of conventional chemicals like potassium nitrate and barium nitrate to bring down the pollution load by upto 30%.
The crackers produced without the use of the conventional chemicals bear a green logo and also the license number.
Ms. Kavitha also said that the order against sale and bursting of non-green crackers has remained in force since last year.
The law against use of non-green crackers is being implemented seriously this year in view of growing air pollution and the threat of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the city police has instructed its officials to remain vigilant against bursting of crackers after 10 p.m. and sale of non-green crackers in their jurisdiction.
Legal action
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) A.N. Prakash Gowda asked the inspectors of all police stations to instruct officials in their jurisdiction to take legal action against offenders.
