Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa caved in to public pressure on Friday and allowed the sale and bursting of “green crackers”, soon a few hours later of announcing the ban on bursting of firecrackers.
The Chief Minister issued an order on Friday evening stating that in view of the safety of persons with COVID-19 and those susceptible to respiratory infections, sale and bursting of only green crackers would be allowed.
“We received many suggestions after we proposed a ban on firecrackers this Deepavali. People should celebrate in a simple manner considering the safety of their children and themselves. I request people to burst only green crackers and celebrate the festival in a simple way,” Yediyurappa said in a tweet.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has taken a decision to ban crackers during this Deepavali based on the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Health Department.
Green crackers are developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). These do not contain lithium, arsenic, lead and barium in them. The scientists have called these crackers Safe Water Releaser (SWAS), Safe Thermite Cracker (STAR) and Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL) crackers.
Green crackers release water vapour and don’t allow the dust particles to rise. They are designed to have 30% less particulate matter pollution.
According to the researchers, these crackers have the unique property of releasing water vapour, air as a dust suppressant and diluents for gaseous emissions that match with the performance in sound with traditional conventional crackers.
Green Crackers are formulated by CSIR-NEERI that has no barium nitrate which is one of the key ingredients of traditional firecrackers.
– Names of these crackers are: “safe water releaser (SWAS)”, “safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL)” and “safe thermite cracker (STAR)”.
– These crackers will release water vapour or air as a dust suppressant and diluent for gaseous emissions.
– These products can only be manufactured by those who have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with CSIR-NEERI.
– Only those green crackers will be sold that consist of a unique logo on the box, and also have a QR code with production and emission details.
About SWAS and STAR
– The reduce particulate matter including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide by at least 30 percent and also eliminate the use of potassium nitrate and sulphur.
The two types have matching sound intensity with commercial crackers, that is, in the range of 105-110 dBA.
About SAFAL
– Minimum use of aluminium that results in at least 35 percent reduction in a particulate matter as compared to commercial crackers.
– Its sound intensity matches with commercial crackers in the 110-115 dBA range.
– Product category consists of Chinese crackers, maroons, atom bombs, flowerpots, pencils and sparkles.
With inputs from www.jagranjosh.com