00:00Stocking up ahead of a big celebration.
00:06Millions of Indians here and around the world will celebrate Diwali today.
00:11Since childhood we have been celebrating Diwali and it's all about being together and of course the decorations.
00:18The way to celebrate? Lights and firecrackers.
00:23But the novelty comes at a cost. The smoke exacerbating an already severe air pollution problem.
00:30To combat the problem, the Delhi government has banned the sale of all firecrackers for the rest of the year.
00:36It is allowing the use of green firecrackers for two hours tonight, which supposedly produce 30% less particulate matter.
00:46Green crackers are more expensive than normal crackers by about 25%.
00:51But they are less harmful so we prefer people to buy and burst green.
00:57Some believe they're a responsible way to celebrate.
01:00Even I'm telling my brother let's not buy too much, let's buy only the green crackers and let's buy as minimum as possible.
01:07But environmentalists say they're a scam.
01:09So this is really strange that you are willing to say that okay so I'll give less poison to my child, less toxicity with less crackers or green crackers.
01:19Despite the rules, you can still easily buy green crackers here in Delhi.
01:24Because the ban only came in at the start of last month, a lot of what is now technically contraband had already been bought.
01:31And vendors are openly selling it.
01:33And those who use them say Diwali shouldn't be demonised.
01:38This is for one day. We celebrate Diwali for one day only.
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