Mysore/Mysuru: Hours after Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa issued a revised order asking people to burst green crackers, officials in district-level are googling the word ‘Green Crackers’ to know about its nature and ways to differentiate between conventional and green crackers.

“Frankly, we don’t know how to distinguish among two varieties of crackers. We may have to go by what traders say due to our limited knowledge on the chemicals used in the manufacturing of firecrackers,” a senior official told Star of Mysore on the condition of anonymity.

The CM, on Friday, announced a blanket ban on sale and bursting of firecrackers in the State as the smoke emanating from them would cause serious health problems for recovered and recovering COVID-19 patients. Following backlash from a section of society and right wingers accusing him of being an anti-Hindu, Yediyurappa made a U-turn and allowed people to burn only the green crackers.

Officials in a quandary

With no revised official orders from the State Government, the district licencing authorities are put in a quandary as there is no clarity on green crackers. Hundreds of applications seeking permission to put up the stalls are kept on hold expecting an official order from the State Chief Secretary. Even cracker traders were not sure whether the CM will stick to his stand or change it in the wake of reports of pressure from experts favouring the ban on the sale and bursting of crackers this year in the interest of Corona positive patients.

Stall works resume

The work on putting up the stalls at J.K. Grounds near the Railway Station in City, which had been temporarily put on hold awaiting official orders from the State Government, resumed this morning. The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) authorities have decided not to give permission to sell firecrackers across the city till they get official notification from the State Government.

“They (traders) may have put up the stalls but they are not allowed to sell crackers till we give them permission. Action will be initiated against those who defy the orders. Till we get the official notification nothing can be done,” MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde said without mincing words.

All are green crackers

When SOM contacted Manikantha, owner of ‘Pataki Mane’ in Hebbal, Mysuru, said whatever firecrackers being manufactured in the last three years are green crackers. In 2018, the Supreme Court banned the usage of traditional fireworks, which resulted in the closure of the entire firework industry. 

In order to reduce the number of job losses, the Government of India (GoI) came up with a novel idea of eco-friendly crackers. The green crackers are environment-friendly that contain a lesser amount of harmful chemicals and cause less pollution. As the name suggests, they are less harmful as compared to conventional fireworks, he said.

According to him, in green crackers, commonly used chemicals like Aluminum, Barium, Potassium Nitrate and Carbon are removed or sharply reduced so that the emission comes down by 15 per cent to 30 per cent. The GoI has issued guidelines to all leading cracker manufacturing companies to use only certain chemicals that would emit less smoke than the conventional fireworks and cause less pollution. 

Accordingly, all firecrackers were strictly adhering to the Government specification. But it was very difficult to say whether small or medium scale cracker manufacturing units use only the GoI recommended chemicals, he added.

Manikantha said COVID-19 pandemic has flattened the firecracker business across the country. Between this, the Government of Karnataka is changing its statements on the ban of firecrackers causing confusion among traders. In fact, this is the last biggest festival for the Hindus in the current year. Since people have not celebrated any major festival since March, it is the only occasion to celebrate and say goodbye to 2020, he added.

Speciality of Green Crackers

Green crackers, developed by scientists at CSIR and NEERI (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) do not contain banned chemicals such as lithium and arsenic, barium and lead.

They are called Safe Water Releaser (SWAS), Safe Thermite Cracker (STAR) and Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL) crackers. Green crackers are designed to have 30 per cent less particulate matter. They do not release dust and only release water vapour. They are also less noisy than regular firecrackers.

Scanner will certify whether the cracker is green or conventional: KSPCB

An officer of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) told SOM that they have a scanner that will certify whether the cracker is green or conventional by scanning the barcode printed on the boxes. Since the power to issue trade licence lies with the MCC and Commissionerate of Police, their role will begin thereafter. They have been given powers to visit every shop to examine the stock, whether it is as per guidelines of the State Government. An official notification is expected in two days, he added.