3 children filed a petition in the Supreme Court, stating to ban the crackers for Dussehra and Diwali festivals.  

It is known that, even the infants can reach the court for filing the petition. The rule is  allowed to protect the children fundamental rights.

Now maybe for the first time in the country, two infants, aged six months and 14 months, filed a petition in the court, with the support of their parents, Arjun Goyal, Aarav Bhandari and Zoya Rao Bhasin, who are lawyers.  

In the petition, they have stressed upon the alarming rate of deterioration of the air quality in Delhi due to pollution caused by, but not limited to, traffic congestion, dust from widespread construction, industrial pollution and the seasonal use of firecrackers.    
 
“Due to the crackers, the children will be affected by the various types of health problems like asthma and completely worsens the lung condition, due to the use of crackers in Delhi,” the plea said.

The petition stated that, it is the right of the kids to breathe clean air and it further blamed the authorities, for not laying down proper guidelines, regarding the sale of the crackers.  

“Authorities have not laid down any guidelines regarding the imposition of the restrictions on selling of the crackers. A look at the licenses will show that environmental and pollution concerns are furthest from the minds of the Government representatives,” the petition stated.

Petition further added, “The imminent advent of festivals that involves a widespread crackers are a sure shot danger to the health of the residents of Delhi., including the applicants and the other children.”

Proof to the argument in children petition

The petition even stated some proofs for their arguments. They stated that, how the awareness campaigns and enforcement mechanisms led to 32 percent decrease in the pollution levels during Diwali festival in 2013 compared to 2012.
     
In 2005, when the court restricted to use the crackers after 1o pm, though it brought a small relief in the beginning, later it led to serious diseases like wheezing, exacerbation of bronchial asthma, other respiratory diseases and also bronchitis were increased by 40 percent during Diwali festival.

The petition is expected to come to the hearing soon and the decision of the court is expected to go viral, as it is linked with millions of people.

By Phani Ch