New Delhi, Oct 7 (KNN) As Diwali is around the corner, it has become a matter of concern for the entire nation to solve this problem. For this, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched green firecrackers which have been manufactured in India and are available in markets for sellers and consumers.

Making this announcement during a press conference here, he said that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) labs have been successful in developing various environment-friendly fireworks such as sound emitting crackers, flowerpots, pencils, chakkar and sparklers.

He pointed out that these fireworks, based on new formulations developed by CSIR, have been manufactured and are available in the Indian market for consumers and sellers.

He further informed that due to the ban that had been imposed as per the orders of Supreme Court of India, there was a threat of imminent closure of the entire fireworks industry. However, Science has once again come to the rescue of the common man and millions of jobs have been saved due to the interventions made by our scientists.

“I am very happy that on one hand we would be using eco-friendly crackers this Deepawali, and, on the other hand our traditional festival celebrations with lights and fire crackers shall remain intact. Millions of homes which are dependent on sale and manufacture of fireworks will also rejoice this festival, thanks to our scientists!” said Vardhan.

He also highlighted that the emissions testing facilities for the new fire crackers have been set up at CSIR-NEERI as well as their approved National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration (NABL) facilities whose list is available at CSIR NEERI website.

Further, a Raw Materials Compositional Analysis (RACE) facility has been launched in Sivakasi to facilitate manufacturers for testing their raw materials and chemicals. About 530 emissions testing certificates have been issued to fireworks manufactures for new and improved formulations meeting the stipulated guidelines of green crackers, he added.

The Minister also lauded the efforts made by CSIR in developing these green crackers and informed that nearly 165 fireworks manufactures have been roped in and around 65 more manufacturers are in the process of coming on board.

To develop reduced emission/green fireworks, eight labs participated, CSIR-NEERI, CEERI, IITR, IICT, NCL, CECRI, NBRI and CMERI, with CSIR NEERI coordinating the entire exercise.

Vardhan also mentioned that CSIR-NEERI along with Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC) have also evolved a clear definition of green crackers with a view to educate the regulators and the public on ways and means to demarcate green crackers from conventional crackers.

Apart from defining green crackers, baseline values for benchmarking green crackers and assessing Barium levels in conventional crackers and green crackers, have been laid down for legal and policy interventions.

During the press conference, Vardhan launched the green crackers manufactured by licensee-manufacturers. He also informed that a green logo as well as a Quick Response (QR) coding system has been developed for differentiation of green crackers from conventional crackers.

QR codes is a novel feature incorporated on the fire crackers to avoid manufacture and sale of counterfeit products. This will also help the consumers to track the cracker using smart phones and other devices.

Vardhan also indicated that the cost of the green crackers is almost same as that of regular crackers.

He further informed that a helpline has been created for any queries related to emission certificates, QR Codes and formulations.

The helpline is available at: +918617770964 and +919049598046, or, email at: director@neeri.res.in.