Centre to conduct fresh tests on barium in firecrackers after conflicting agency views

Centre Wednesday told Supreme Court that it intended to conduct fresh tests to assess the harmful impact of the use of barium

NEW DELHI: As two govt organisations took contradictory stands on commercial production of next-generation green firecrackers - with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-NEERI approving new formulations and Central Pollution Control Board objecting - Centre Wednesday told Supreme Court that it intended to conduct fresh tests to assess the harmful impact of the use of barium. Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati told a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Augustine George Masih that govt, after consulting stakeholders, had decided to conduct the tests in New Delhi, Bhopal, Kolkata and Chennai. Centre had asked CSIR-NEERI to develop green/low-emission fireworks - with particulate matter (PM) emission reduction of more than 50% - in association with manufacturers. Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers' Association (Tanfama) devised new-generation formulation crackers with a reduced quantity of barium salts/nitrates in combination with other oxidisers. In a report, CSIR-NEERI said with the new formulations, emission reductions achieved for PM10 and PM2.5 were between 45% and 60%, and recommended that the formulations for light-emission fireworks (such as flowerpots, sparklers, chakkars, pencils, twinkling stars and their hybrids) be considered for commercial production. It also approved the manufacture of 'joined crackers', known as 'ladis', which have been banned by a court order. The report said there was a reduction in PM emissions by approximately 30% and a reduction in solid waste generation by up to 32% for joined crackers. CPCB asked how barium nitrate could be used in crackers when it was banned by SC. "This court, vide order dated Oct 23, 2018, has expressly banned the use of barium salts in firecrackers and, therefore, any formulation involving barium compounds, even in reduced quantities, is in contravention of the said order," it said in its communication to govt.

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"The reported reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 levels has not been comparatively assessed with (i) improved low-emission crackers and (ii) green crackers formulated entirely without barium, rendering the claim incomplete and inconclusive," it added. The petitioners, on whose plea polluting firecrackers were banned, submitted that the court had over the years passed eight orders to ban the use of barium and its use in cracker manufacturing could not be allowed. SC asked Centre to get suggestions from experts, saying the court had no expertise in these matters.

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