Only 240 people have received primary training from the nationally designated agency to manufacture green fireworks in Bengal.
“Approximately 240 participants have been trained so far in Bengal for manufacturing green fireworks,” Sadhana Rayalu, chief scientist of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) told The Telegraph.
NEERI has been mandated by the Supreme Court to prepare formulations of green fireworks and train manufacturers.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had recently called for the mass production of green fireworks.
Only seven units have got final clearance for the manufacturing of green firecrackers.
Even if the state government works swiftly to set up a few clusters for manufacturing green fireworks, it is unlikely that many legal green fireworks will be produced before the ensuing festival season, which is less than two months away, members of a firework manufacturing bodies said.
According to data from the state pollution board, at present, seven units — six in Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas and one in Darjeeling — have clearance from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to manufacture green fireworks.
“Out of the 240 people trained, 41 have sent their green fireworks samples to NEERI and got them cleared. They have received emission certificates. But currently, clearances from state agencies are on hold as the government plans to set up a single-
window system for clearing green firework units. So, large production of such fireworks is unlikely before Diwali,” said Sukhdeb Chakrabarty, secretary of Pradesh Atasbazi Byabsayi Samity, an association of fireworks manufacturers.
“With clusters yet to be formed and NEERI certification taking around two months to come after samples are being sent, the possibility of many green fireworks being produced in the state before Diwali this year is minimal,” said Subhankar Manna of the Paschimbanga Bazi Shilpa Unnayan Samity, another fireworks association.
Further problems could arise because NEERI is unlikely to train prospective green fireworks entrepreneurs en masse in the districts in the future, as they have
done recently in South 24-Parganas and Hoogly, after two firework associations slapped police complaints against each other alleging irregularities and involving senior NEERI officials in their dispute.
“The possibility of conducting training at NEERI’s Calcutta zonal laboratory or at the headquarters in Nagpur is being explored,” said NEERI’s chief scientist Rayalu.
Green activists said that in the absence of legal green fireworks, clandestinely made fake green crackers — both made locally and imported from Sivakasi — are likely
to spread in Bengal like last year.
There were large-scale violations during Diwali last year.
In the run-up to Diwali 2022, in a survey across the city, this newspaper
found fake green crackers without QR codes or fake QR codes dominating the bazi bazaars.
Calcutta High Court had directed that no firecrackers other than green crackers bearing NEERI-approved QR codes could be sold.
Bazi bazaars are authorised retail markets of fireworks.
“It will be difficult to organise bazi bazaars this year in Calcutta unless the government provides us space to keep the fireworks consignments to be brought from Sivakasi. We do not want to run the risk of hoarding the fireworks in private spaces after the series of recent blasts,” said a firecracker seller.
