It will be a cacophony- and smoke-free Diwali this year in Delhi and in the National Capital Region (NCR) than... Read More

NEW DELHI: It will be a cacophony- and smoke-free Diwali this year in Delhi and in the National Capital Region (NCR) thanks to the Supreme Court (SC) which on Monday banned the sale of fireworks ahead of the annual festival on October 19.

While the SC had issued a similar ban in the NCR region last year, it didn't have the opportunity to observe the impact on pollution levels , it said. Therefore it also ordered that a relevant agency compute the impact of a noise-and smoke-free festival this year.

The SC simultaneously suspended all licenses issued by the Delhi Police to shopkeepers that allowed them to sell fireworks.

The SC allowed the sale of firecrackers to resume after November 1 this year.



In Video: Ahead of Diwali, SC bans sale of firecrackers in Delhi and NCR