Green firecracker or not? Hyderabad buyers can’t tell the difference

Hyderabad: With Diwali a day away, buyers crowding the makeshift firecracker stalls across Hyderabad are walking away with sparklers, flower pots and rockets. Many of them, though, cannot say whether what they bought is a green cracker.

Only certified green crackers, meant to cut emissions and noise, are supposed to be sold. Many shoppers have not got the message, and higher prices mean families are buying less this year.

“Prices have gone up, so I am buying fewer crackers compared to last year,” Bipin Kumar told Siasat.com. “We usually buy flower pots, sparklers and chakras because children enjoy them. I have purchased the crackers, but I am not sure whether they are green crackers or not. I am also not sure how they differ from regular ones.”

Sujeet has cut back too. “I used to buy different varieties of crackers, but this time I am sticking to a few affordable options,” he told Siasat.com. He prefers sky shots and colourful fountains for the way they look. “I heard of green crackers, but I am not sure how to identify genuine ones.”

Manufacturers have blamed costlier raw materials. Sulphur prices rose sharply this year, and aluminium, sodium nitrate and other inputs went up by about 30 per cent, according to Business Standard. This means that retail prices also increased.

The stalls are drawing buyers from across communities, with many Muslim families also seen picking up crackers. Irshad said the children at home wanted to burst crackers since the neighbours were celebrating. “We didn’t buy many crackers, just a few,” he said.

The roadside stalls have also slowed traffic, with congestion reported between the Moazzam Jahi Market circle and Jamia Masjid in Siddiamber Bazar.

Less noise, more complaints

Traders say the confusion is hurting business. Dealers told The Hindu that many customers mistake the lower noise of green crackers for poor quality and some have even come back to complain.

The shift began around 2021 and packets now carry a green symbol, a Kukatpally trader told The Hindu, adding that even the mirchi bomb makes less noise now. Most of his customers asked for green crackers this year, he said.

Some families are skipping the stalls and ordering in bulk from Sivakasi manufacturers at wholesale rates.

Late licences have added to traders’ worries. Sanjay Kumar Gupta of Ramamurthy Trading Company, in business since 1975, said he applied about 20 days earlier but got his licence only on November 5. “We are now hoping to break even, not even make a profit,” he told The Hindu.

What makes a cracker green

The green label is a certification, not a promise of clean air.

The programme took shape in 2018, when the government asked Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories to develop less polluting fireworks. CSIR-NEERI, the environmental research institute in Nagpur, came up with three formulations.

SWAS uses a polymer hydrogel that releases water vapour as it burns, to keep dust down. STAR uses iron oxide to help the mixture burn more completely. SAFAL cuts down on aluminium and keeps it mainly in the flash powder that sets off the reaction.

To qualify as green, a cracker must emit at least 30 per cent less particulate matter than a conventional cracker of the same type. NEERI’s framework also bars lead, arsenic and mercury.

A 2023 study by NEERI researchers found that the green crackers tested released 30-60 per cent less barium than conventional ones. In other words, the banned chemical was still showing up in emissions.

How to spot a genuine one

Every box must carry the CSIR-NEERI green logo and a QR code specific to the product and batch. Scanning the code should show the manufacturer’s name, its NEERI registration, its licence from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the formulation and the test certificate

Buyers are advised to check that these details match the pack and that the manufacturer appears on NEERI’s list of registered units. Words such as “green” or “eco-friendly” printed on a box are not proof of certification.

Ban on paper, patchy on the ground

The Supreme Court barred barium salts in firecrackers in 2018. In November 2023, it said the ban applied across the country.

In Hyderabad, police raids before the festival have targeted unlicensed stock. On October 17, the Commissioner’s Task Force and Goshamahal Police seized 569 cartons of firecrackers worth about Rs 20 lakh in Chudi Bazar. In a separate raid, Mangalhat Police seized stock worth about Rs 10 lakh from a house in Rahimpura.

Police have warned that crackers can be burst only till 10 pm on Diwali. Malkajgiri zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Chittaluri Sridhar Goud said that stalls without licences would be sealed and that traders should not sell crackers to unaccompanied children under 18.

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