NGT clamps down on firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, bans their sale & use as pollution levels deteriorate

So imagine, not crackers exploding into a thousand ephemeral stars in the night sky or bursting on the ground with a deafening boom but rockets blooming into marigolds, anaars sprouting into amaltas or a charkha releasing an onion sapling.

In Pic: Micro-green spinach ladi

Pic Credit: Gram Art Project

It's a paradigm shift from the de-rigeur firecrackers but seed crackers are the perfect solution, particularly in a pandemic year when the high levels of pollutants pose a severe threat to coronavirus patients, entrepreneurs said as the National Green Tribunal on Monday imposed a total ban on firecrackers across the Delhi-NCR region till November 30.

In Pic: Coriander tikli

Pic Credit: Gram Art Project

The seed crackers are made by using plantable seed paper or containing a seed ball inside the cracker, which is usually made by recycled paper. A seed ball, made with paper pulp or soil, provides protection against predators and adverse weather.

In Pic: Phoenix onion chakkar

Pic Credit: Gram Art Project

A box containing two coir pots and seven seed crackers anaar, chakri, tikli, lakshmi bomb, rocket, sutli bomb, and naagin ladi -- costs Rs 749 at Jaipur-based startup 21Fools.com, which collaborates with Gram Art Project.

The pricing, according to Divyanshu Asopa, founder of 21Fools, will come down after more people start taking interest.