BENGALURU: While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said steps will be taken to ensure only green crackers are sold and that action will be taken against those selling conventional firecrackers, many were unaware of ‘green crackers’.
TNIE spoke to several people and a majority of them were unaware of ‘green crackers’. Ramachandran, a social worker who distributes crackers among orphans and needy, said he is not aware of green crackers and he is getting the gift box available in shops.
“For the last Deepavali, we got a cracker box with a green logo. While bursting them, we realised they were regular firecrackers,” said Vinod Jayapal, founder of Urbans that is working to reduce pollution by recycling wastepaper.
Ayyan Fireworks Factory MD G Abiruben, who is also the vice-president of Tamil Nadu Amorces and Fireworks Manufacturers Association, welcomed Siddaramaiah’s decision and said, “Cracker manufacturers at Sivakasi have migrated to green cracker production. Apart from the green logo, this year we have come up with the ‘QR Code’ concept.
When scanned, it will give details of the company, manufacturing lot, date and others to reassure consumers that the product is 100 per cent green cracker.” Asked if conventional firecrackers are still available, Abiruben said, “Shopkeepers and traders may have stocked up unsold firecrackers and are waiting to sell them off.” But he added that awareness among the public on green crackers is increasing and going forward there will be only green crackers.
Green crackers are eco-friendly and do not contain lead, barium, arsenic and lithium. They are designed to release water vapour which will not allow dust particles to rise, reducing emissions. They are designed to have a small shell size compared to conventional firecrackers. Green cracker boxes will have the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research -National Environmental Engineering Institute’s green logo.