With one more day to go to celebrate Diwali (traditionally called Deepavali), protests against the use of pollution-causing crackers have alarmed authorities. As such, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board has mandated that Keralites can only burst green crackers. In fact, stores in Kerala can only sell eco-friendly crackers for Diwali.
The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute has claimed that green crackers are better than normal ones because it contains fewer chemicals. It does not contain aluminium, barium, potassium nitrate or carbon, making it less harmful to the air. The President of the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association even shared that green crackers cause 30% less pollution compared to the normal ones.
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Another mandate that’s come directly from the Home Department of the state is that Keralites can only burst crackers between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on the 4th of November. Keralites shouldn’t burst crackers within 100 meters of silence zones, such as hospitals, religious institutions, courts, and educational institutions. The KSPCB suggested that this would be the ideal way to go about controlling pollution-related problems and sound disturbances.
The State hasn’t banned the use of crackers. Rather, they’ve taken an eco-friendly route to make sure that air quality doesn’t become an issue in the future. So, kindly respect that.