Cracker ban: Delhi traders express worry over loss of business

Anticipating high pollution levels during winter months, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on the manufacture, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in the capital city

New Delhi: With the ban on firecrackers in the national capital ahead of the festival season, traders in Jama Masjid, Paharganj and Chandani Chowk expressed worry about a considerable loss of business, as their employees sulked under a pall of gloom about a likely scuttling of their annual bonuses.

Anticipating high pollution levels during winter months, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on the manufacture, storage, sale and bursting of firecrackers in the capital city.

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Ram Das, who has owned a cracker shop in the Jama Masjid market for the last four decades, said the restrictions in the last five years have gravely impacted his livelihood.

“Indian government should announce a ban on firecracker production permanently in the country so that we can switch to some other business for our sustenance and save ourselves the yearly wipeout,” Das told PTI.

The Delhi government‘s decision to ban firecrackers also includes a prohibition on online sales.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) enforced a full firecracker ban in 2021 and 2022, and the same measure will be in force this year too, Rai had earlier said.

Tarun Sehgal, a vendor in Paharganj, said the ban not just impacts their livelihoods, but also dampens the festive
mood.

“I have six to seven employees who don’t have money to pay their children’s fees. These people wait for the festival season when the business is brisk and they get a chance to fulfil all their families’ needs. Not just livelihoods, the ban affects our celebrations too,” Sehgal told PTI.

The ban comes ahead of the winter season, a period which has been routinely marked by a spike in air pollution over the past several years.

Despite relatively low air quality index (AQI) figures from January to August, the AQI typically worsens during October as humidity and particulate matter accumulate in the atmosphere, Delhi’s Environment Minister had said earlier.

“Festivals are also connected with religious sentiments in our country. And if we talk about combating pollution, Delhi is not the only place where people are facing this problem,” another trader, Rajiv Jain, told PTI.

The Delhi government has called upon neighbouring states to follow suit and prohibit the sale of firecrackers, recognising the trans-boundary impact of pollution.

To enforce the ban, the government has instructed the Delhi Police not to grant any licenses related to firecrackers.