Will request CM Fadnavis to ban crackers in Maharashtra as well: Ramdas Kadam

Maharashtra Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam on Tuesday said that he would request state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to ban crackers in the state in line with the Supreme Court's ruling for Delhi.

"I will talk to Chief Minister Fadnavis and request if we can also ban crackers in Maharashtra in line with the Supreme Court's ruling for Delhi. The festivals in Maharashtra should be pollution-free. When we burn fire during Diwali, it causes pollution, affects human beings, shops get ablaze, and children also die. The high pollution has a bad effect on the atmosphere which is the reason that sometimes there is less rains and sometimes high," he told the media.

The Supreme Court yesterday restored the ban on the sale of firecrackers till November 1, in Delhi.

The court, while delivering its order, said that it wanted to test the effect of the ban on air quality after Diwali.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated across India by bursting crackers, leaving the national capital thick with smoke and pollution.