State to extend support to augment manufacturing of green firecrackers

Kolkata: The state Environment department will extend active support in augmentation of the number of production centres involved in the manufacture of green crackers in the state.

The move will cut down on dependency of importing green crackers from other states like Tamilnadu.

"If a manufacturer applies for license to produce green fire crackers, our department will conduct a thorough inspection and if it is found that the unit is abiding by the norms, we will issue license. Why should we have to depend on green crackers imported from other states ? We can produce green crackers in Bengal itself," state Environment minister Manas Bhuniya said .

Presently, only 16 units in Bengal have received license from NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) for manufacture of green crackers, of which 8 are in South 24-Parganas, 3 in Howrah, 2 each in Nadia and Hooghly and one in North 24-Parganas.

Pradesh Atasbazi Byabasayee Samity in the month of July had brought some 40-odd manufacturing units across the state for hands on training on the manufacture of green crackers from

scientists of NEERI.

Hands-on training in respect of more than a dozen firecrackers were taken up at the workshop that includes sparklers popularly known as Fuljhuri, flower pots and fire torch popularly known as Rangmashal.

NEERI has developed new formulations for flower pots without use of barium nitrate in presence of additives with consequent reduction in emissions.

A few months after the training workshop, the samples manufactured by the units were sent to NEERI for approval and 16 got the nod.

"We will be travelling to NEERI's head office at Nagpur in December and will seek approval for another dozen green cracker manufacturing unit," Sukdev Naskar, secretary of Pradesh Atasbaji Byabasayee Samity said.