High price, less production mar sale of 'green' crackers in Chennai

Fire cracker vendors in Chennai say a plethora of reasons hamper sale of green crackers including lack of variety, high prices, less production and rain.
Though green crackers were unveiled in other states, sale of these are yet to be permitted in Chennai| (Pix-Shekhar Yadav | EPS)
Though green crackers were unveiled in other states, sale of these are yet to be permitted in Chennai| (Pix-Shekhar Yadav | EPS)

CHENNAI: With less than a week away from Deepavali festival, the vendors in Chennai are hit by low sales of ‘Green' crackers. Though they are expected to be an alternative to the old polluting crackers, lack of variety, high prices and less production have hampered their sale.

The vendors also said rain and new fire-safety regulations are a reason for low sales. ‘‘The cracker prices have gone up by 10 percent for all crackers this year. So far, only two or three percent of stock has been sold and it is going very slow,’’ said Imran Abdullah, a retailer of Standard Fireworks in Parrys.

Though about a hundred varieties of crackers are sold in the market currently, vendors said only few varieties have the green colour label of CSIR- National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which came up with the ‘green cracker’ concept.

According to NEERI, the green crackers are produced using Potassium Nitrate and Zeolite instead of  Barium Nitrate, a chemical found in the older crackers. The sound is also expected to be 125 decibels contrary to the 160 dbs of the older crackers while the particulate matter is going to be 30 percent less.

 ‘‘Only flower pots and sparkles are ‘green crackers’ with the green label and QR code of CSIR-NEERI. These crackers are certified by them. However, the rest of the crackers have QR codes which has the details of chemical components prescribed by the Supreme Court,’’ said Abdullah.

Since the fire-safety regulations have restricted vendors to not sell crackers by raising stalls on the roadsides or in public places, the number of people selling crackers too are less this time.

Vijaya Kumar, another retailer of Standard Fireworks, too admitted low sales this year. ‘‘Out of 19 licensed shops in Parrys, only 16 are functioning. Three of them has not opened their shops yet in fear of
loss,’’ he said.

After the new restrictions on chemical components, manufacturers have cut down heavily on the production of  ‘Snake’, Garlic bomb, shells (sarams) made of bijlis. ‘‘People look for these the most. If crackers sold at this current pace, this stock will be there for the next two years,’’ said Kumar, adding that the buyers are skeptical about the prices and they buy less quantity now.

Welcoming green crackers which may reduce pollution, officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board said that since only few units are licensed to produce them, there won’t be much of a production this
year. ‘‘We expect the pollution levels to be within limits this year and the TNPCB will ensure people burst crackers only in the stipulated time between 6 am to 7 am and 7 pm to 8 pm,’’ said an official.

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