NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said it would seriously consider limiting the cracker bursting time on Diwali to between 5 pm and 10 pm.

Hearing a petition filed by three toddlers seeking a complete ban on crackers, a bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Amitava Roy asked solicitor general Ranjit Kumar and additional solicitor general Maninder Singh to consult the departments concerned in the government and come out with their response within a week to six suggestions given by the petitioner’s counsel A M Singhvi. The court posted the matter for October 27.

READ ALSO: 3 infants move SC seeking ban on firecrackers during festive season

One of the suggestions which caught the court’s attention related to limiting the cracker bursting time between 7 pm and 9 pm. The bench thought it was too small a window and suggested that it could be from 5 pm to 10 pm on Diwali day.

However, the bench accepted two suggestions from Singhvi on spreading awareness about ill-effects of crackers. It ordered the Centre and state governments to give wide publicity to ill-effects of crackers in both print and electronic media. It also told the teaching community to spread similar awareness among students.

The other suggestions included restricting grant of licence to low hazard fireworks, limiting licence to manufacture fireworks to a brief period between Dussehra and Diwali and asking resident welfare associations to hold community fireworks for a brief period of 30 minutes on a single day.

One of the largest fireworks manufacturers from Sivakasi, Kaliswari Fireworks Pvt Ltd, moved the SC for being a party in the toddlers’ petition, saying any order on the issue would vitally affect its business.

The manufacturer, through counsel Rohini Musa, submitted that there was not a single incident of its products being found defective, detrimental to public health or being a cause of pollution.

“The smoke and emissions generated by fireworks manufactured and imported from China, which are sold at a substantial price difference as compared to local Indian manufacturers, have been determined as being hazardous to health and environment as these fireworks do not meet the prescribed standards,” it said.

“Chinese fireworks are primarily made up of high quantities of potassium chlorate which accelerates the combustibility of the said fireworks. Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association has already submitted a representation to the ministry of commerce and industry to ban import of crackers from China as they not only cause a loss of business to the indigenous industry in Sivakasi but also pose hazard to health and nature,” the applicant said.

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