Firecracker ban: Trade body CAIT demands compensation for traders' losses

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday said states that have banned sale of firecrackers should compensate firecracker traders for the losses suffered by them due to the ban.

CAIT in a statement demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and chief ministers of other states should "compensate the firecracker traders for the losses they have accrued due to ban on sale of firecrackers".

The traders' body also termed the order of Delhi Pollution Control Committee dated November 6, 2020 which states that there will be a "complete ban" on bursting and sale of all kinds of fire crackers from November 7-30, 2020 in the territory of NCT of Delhi, as "null and void and a blatant violation of order of Supreme Court of India".

In 2018, the Supreme Court had banned the use of polluting firecrackers and allowed the sale of "green firecrackers" in a bid to control air pollution.

The "green crackers" are not as polluting as the conventional firecrackers and they contain at least 30 per cent less particulate matter such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

Ahead of Diwali, the Delhi government has decided to ban firecrackers in the national capital and ramp up medical infrastructure in hospitals, Kejriwal said after a review of the COVID-19 situation recently.

The Calcutta High Court has banned the use of firecrackers in West Bengal on Diwali, Kali Puja and Chhat Puja.

State governments of Odisha and Sikkim have also banned the sale and use of firecrackers during the upcoming festival season to check air pollution.