Hyderabad: With just a day left for Deepavali, heavy rush was witnessed at cracker shops in the city on Sunday. The joy of celebrating the festival in a conventional way by bursting crackers seems impossible for many with the prices skyrocketing.
Retailers at the wholesale market of Osmangunj, Malakpet, General Bazaar and Ameerpet point out that post-COVID-19 the overall prices have gone up between 20 and 30 percent.
A retailer Vijay Kumar who runs a cracker shop at Osman Shahi road said that prices increased due to two reasons – the one is because of green crackers manufacturing and the other due to less manufacturing as manufacturers did not get ample time to source the required ingredients.
“Compared to the regular season, we got less stock this year from the manufacturers. So there is a shortage in the market and we are facing issues due to the price hike of crackers, as the sales are not encouraging,” said Vijay Kumar.
He said green crackers use nitrates as compared to general crackers, which use barium salts. Nitrates are short in supply to the manufacturers so cracker manufacturing has taken a hit owing to which companies hike the prices of available products. The cost of the most sought flower ports and sky shots (rockets) increased by 20 percent and sparkles (phooljhadie) by 15 percent.
Chief Scientist of the Air Pollution Control Division, A D Bhanarkar, said that many of the firework retailer outlets in the city have shifted away from conventional crackers owing to the orders by the Supreme Court.
According to the NEERI green firecrackers are being made with a reduction in the size of the shell, elimination of ash usage, reduced raw materials in the compositions and use of additives such as dust suppressants to reduce emissions with specific reference to particulate matter.
“Green crackers cause 30 percent less air pollution compared to traditional ones and also reduce the emissions to a certain extent. Many manufacturers of the fireworks industries have taken the combinations and formulations from us and produced products. After testing we provide certifications and QR codes to some of the products that are eligible for sale,” said A D Bhanarkar.
He further added that air pollution causes many diseases like cardiac arrests, and breathing problems that threaten human life. “As many people are suffering the effects of air pollution today, making these crackers available in the market will help in protecting their health and environment.”
President of Telangana Fire Workers Dealers Association (TFWDA), K Venugopal, said that there are different varieties of green crackers. The majority of manufacturers in Sivakasi are producing only crackers that are free from barium nitrate and other harmful chemicals after the Supreme Court banned the usage of inorganic compounds.
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