Supreme Court Opens Two-Day Green-Cracker Window Before Diwali

On November 7 and 8, Delhi-NCR residents will get two short windows to burst certified green firecrackers: 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm. The Supreme Court announced the temporary permission on Monday, ahead of Diwali on November 8. The ruling allows some fireworks, but only at set times and under rules meant to limit harm. It creates two narrow daily windows. ^2,4

Those windows follow a court order dated October 29, made public on November 2. A bench led by Justice M M Sundresh and Justice Prasanna B Varale also barred fireworks. The ban applies within 300 metres of hospitals, nursing homes, health centres, old-age homes and marked silence zones. Educational institutions must also be marked as no-cracker zones. Authorities must put up signs and share information about restricted areas. Manufacturers with valid CSIR-NEERI and PESO approval can make only listed green crackers from November 2 to 6; joined firecrackers, barium crackers and unapproved products remain banned. ^4,16

November 9 is when the full firecracker ban returns across Delhi-NCR. The court said it was choosing temporary rules over a full ban, partly because it lacked enough evidence to judge whether a ban had improved air quality. It also noted that conventional crackers had continued to be sold as green ones despite restrictions. Green crackers are designed to release fewer pollutants, but they still add to pollution. That leaves enforcement, and the ability to tell approved products from illegal ones, central to whether the rules protect residents. ^1,6

Authorities across Delhi-NCR must now stop illegal and conventional crackers from being sold or used, and ensure people follow the time and location limits. The court has stressed that orders matter only if officials carry them out on the ground. The temporary permission ends after November 8; from November 9, the full ban is back. ^2,13