New Delhi, Sept 12 (KNN) The Supreme Court today halved the number of cracker sale licences to be given out across Delhi and National Capital Region, saying, "more than 50 lakh crackers should be enough".

In Delhi, a maximum of 500 licences will be given. No import of fire crackers from other states will be allowed, the top court said today in an interim order. The court said it would monitor the air quality in Delhi after Diwali and hear the case again.

The apex court today lifted "for the time being" its order of suspending the permanent licences for sale and retail of fire crackers within the National Capital Region (NCR) by modifying its order of November last year.

The apex court, however, said its order lifting the suspension of permanent licences might require a review after Diwali, depending on the ambient air quality after the festival.

A bench comprising Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked the Centre and the concerned authorities to consider encouraging display of fireworks through community participation rather than individual bursting of crackers.

The top court appointed a committee, to be headed by the chairperson of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), to conduct a research on the impact of bursting fire crackers during the festive season of Dussehra and Diwali on the health of the people.