HYDERABAD: Hyderabad has officially said no to a ‘Green Diwali’ this year. Earlier this month, the Union minister for health, Harsh Vardhan, along with some of country’s top scientists, unveiled a line of “green” firecrackers. He had announced that the new fireworks would resolve the crisis of air pollution, cut down on noise, and will be available at the same retail price. However, these green-crackers are still not easy to find in the city markets.
Unaware of what ‘green’ crackers are, many customers in the city claim that pollution is not a major issue for the city as the air pollution levels here are less than, say, Delhi and Mumbai. While some blamed the lack of availability of ‘green’ crackers for their low sales, shopkeepers blamed it on the lack of demand among customers.
Owner of Bhagwati Celebration and Fireworks, Venugopal, 32, said, "The production of green crackers is very limited and because the demand is only in north-Indian cities, we are not getting much stock." Another cracker seller, Shyam, said, “Customers don’t even know what green crackers are. It will take another five years for the city to witness a demand for green crackers.”