Evaluate "green crackers" as a technological fix for seasonal air pollution in North India.

In 2018 CSIR developed "green crackers" named SWAS, SAFAL and STAR. They are fireworks with a changed chemical recipe, meant to reduce emissions without banning a festive custom [1]. They are a useful way to reduce harm. However, they cannot fix a pollution season that is driven mostly by bigger sources and by the weather.

Merits: what the technology delivers

• Lower emissions: NEERI's formulas cut particulate emissions by at least 30%, and up to 80%. They use zeolite additives, boron-based dust suppressants and metallic composites [2].
• Cleaner chemistry: toxic barium is replaced with strontium and potassium [2].
• Protects livelihoods: green crackers are 15–20% cheaper, and makers need no change to their facilities [1]. This matters to a trade whose PESO licences were cancelled during the bans [2].
• Makes a middle path possible: in Oct 2025 the SC allowed limited sale in NCR as a "test case" instead of a total ban. Sale was only through licensed traders, with an 8–10 pm bursting window and no laris or e-commerce [2].

Limitations: why it is not a full fix

• Fewer emissions, not zero: the Union government's own report called green crackers about 30% less polluting [2]. Mass bursting in a short window can still cancel out that gain.
• Weather and other sources dominate: still winds and unfavourable weather keep Delhi's winter AQI high [3]. Crackers also come during the 3–4-month peak, on top of stubble burning [2].
• Hard to check what is genuine: NEERI found QR codes sold to unregistered makers. CAQM admitted it is difficult to ensure that only green crackers are sold [2].
• Banned crackers still get in: conventional crackers are smuggled in during festivals [2].
• Weak evidence: AQI showed little difference between 2018 and 2024, and source apportionment studies (which measure how much each source adds to pollution) are still awaited [2].

Verdict and way forward

• Treat green crackers as one layer of a wider plan, alongside GRAP, NCAP and stubble management.
• Make traders check QR codes at the point of sale, and build more forensic (FSL) testing capacity [2].
• Keep up R&D for lower emissions, for example through the new National Centre of Excellence for Green Firecrackers at CSIR-NEERI [4].
• Base each season's rules on published CPCB/CAQM monitoring data [2].

Green crackers are a sound innovation. They help balance the Article 21 right to health, the Article 25 freedom of religion and workers' livelihoods. But they reduce harm only at the margin and do not cure the problem. They will work best as part of a regional clean-air plan that is based on evidence, in line with Article 48A and SDG 3.9.