MUMBAI: Ahead of Diwali, Awaaz Foundation, an NGO which has been actively mapping noise pollution due to crackers every year, has demanded the confiscation of firecrackers which do not conform to the prescribed pollution norms.
Ahead of Diwali buying that is set to begin, the foundation’s convenor Sumaira Abdul Ali has, in a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, requested that all firecrackers which do not conform to health-based safety standards, including all non-green crackers, be confiscated before their sale and use in the city and across the state.
Jointly with Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Awaaz Foundation had tested 30 varieties of firecrackers in order to determine their noise pollution levels on Thursday.
These firecrackers had been procured from the market a day earlier. Of the 30 varieties, 15 were marked as ‘Green Crackers’ and 15 others were traditional varieties.
“One of the varieties of green crackers exceeded the permissible decibel limit of 125dB. Markings of chemical content on the other 14 were incomplete...,” she has stated in her letter.
