00:00Stocking up ahead of a big celebration.
00:05Millions of Indians here and around the world will celebrate Diwali today,
00:11the Hindu festival that signifies good triumphing over evil.
00:15Since childhood we have been celebrating Diwali
00:18and it's all about being together and of course the decorations.
00:22The way to celebrate? Lights and firecrackers.
00:27But the novelty comes at a cost.
00:30The smoke exacerbating an already severe air pollution problem.
00:34It's a complete haze. Sometimes it's just that morning you cannot see beyond 100 metres.
00:41To combat the problem, the Delhi government has banned the sale of all firecrackers for the rest of the year.
00:47It is allowing the use of green firecrackers for two hours tonight,
00:52which supposedly produce 30% less particulate matter.
00:56But to find a shop that is allowed to sell them,
00:59you have to travel an hour out of Delhi to a shop like this one.
01:03Green crackers are more expensive than normal crackers by about 25%,
01:09but they are less harmful so we prefer people to buy and burst green.
01:15Some believe they're a responsible way to celebrate.
01:19Even I'm telling my brother let's not buy too much, let's buy only the green crackers
01:23and let's buy as minimum as possible.
01:25But environmentalists say they're a scam.
01:28So this is really strange that you are willing to say,
01:31okay so I'll give less poison to my child, less toxicity with less crackers or green crackers.
01:38Despite the rules, you can still easily buy green crackers here in Delhi.
01:43Because the ban only came in at the start of last month,
01:46a lot of what is now technically contraband had already been bought.
01:50And vendors are openly selling it.
01:53And those who use them say Diwali shouldn't be demonised.
01:57This is for one day. We celebrate Diwali for one day only.
02:01And traffic pollution causes us 365 days in a year.
Comments