The Bihar government has banned the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers, including green crackers, in the state capital Patna and three other cities — Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Hajipur — to curb air pollution during Diwali.

As for other cities and rural areas, only green crackers could be used during the festival, that too between 8pm and 10pm.

The Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) chairman D.K. Shukla has written to all district magistrates with regard to this and has directed them to file a compliance report or an action-taken report.

“Enforce complete ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers, including green crackers in municipal areas of Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya and Hajipur; ensure that only green crackers be sold and used in the districts except Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya and Hajipur municipal areas. The timing for bursting crackers will be ensured between 8pm and 10pm,” Shukla wrote in the letter, a copy of which is with The Telegraph.

The BSPCB chairman said in the missive that the bursting of firecrackers led to a lot of air and noise pollution as they released toxic air pollutants like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide, black carbon, and particulates (dust). These produced light to dense clouds of smoke, affecting eyes, throat, lungs, heart and skin of the people. He also referred to the Supreme Court judgment on firecrackers.