<p class="title">The Supreme Court today said it would examine whether there should be a total ban on use of firecrackers as it noted that air pollution reached hazardous proportions during Diwali.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It said around 20-25 per cent of children in the city suffer from respiratory problems due to abnormally high levels of pollution during the festival.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Are we supposed to take a holistic approach and ban everything that contributes to pollution or take an ad-hoc approach and simply ban firecrackers?" a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court also noted that air pollution posed a major threat to infants and the toxicity of the air increased exponentially after burning of crackers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for a firecracker manufacturer, argued that according to studies, the effect of ban on crackers on air pollution has been meagre and that there should be a scientific study on the issue.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The matter was listed for hearing on August 8.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The top court had last year banned the sale of firecrackers for a limited period while hearing a plea filed by three minors through their guardian.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court had refused to relax its October 9 order banning the sale of firecrackers while dismissing a plea by traders who had sought its permission to sell crackers for at least a day or two before Diwali on October 19, 2017.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It had said that its ban order during Diwali that year was an experiment to examine its effect on the pollution level in the region.</p>
<p class="title">The Supreme Court today said it would examine whether there should be a total ban on use of firecrackers as it noted that air pollution reached hazardous proportions during Diwali.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It said around 20-25 per cent of children in the city suffer from respiratory problems due to abnormally high levels of pollution during the festival.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Are we supposed to take a holistic approach and ban everything that contributes to pollution or take an ad-hoc approach and simply ban firecrackers?" a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court also noted that air pollution posed a major threat to infants and the toxicity of the air increased exponentially after burning of crackers.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for a firecracker manufacturer, argued that according to studies, the effect of ban on crackers on air pollution has been meagre and that there should be a scientific study on the issue.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The matter was listed for hearing on August 8.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The top court had last year banned the sale of firecrackers for a limited period while hearing a plea filed by three minors through their guardian.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The court had refused to relax its October 9 order banning the sale of firecrackers while dismissing a plea by traders who had sought its permission to sell crackers for at least a day or two before Diwali on October 19, 2017.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It had said that its ban order during Diwali that year was an experiment to examine its effect on the pollution level in the region.</p>