Banned firecrackers sold across markets

A seamless experience

- Hemani Bhandari

The streets are bustling. A sea of people course through the veins of Kamla Nagar market, one of Delhi's busiest Diwali shopping destinations. The stores are packed to the rafters with clamouring customers. On either side of the broad main avenue, bright signboards jostle for a customer's eyes. There is no space for subtlety. In the heart of this din sits "Sardar Ji Jeans", occupying pride of place on the main road. Its blaring white neon sign sits above a wide, welcoming glass door. But adjacent to its name sits. another sign-"Sardar Ji Patakhe Wale", it reads. It isn't much of a covert operation.

Inside, a middle-aged man is behind the counter. As two of his employees take customers through pairs of jeans, the man attends to a flurry of urgent queries from scores of customers, all asking the same thing: "Patakhe hain kya?" (Do you have firecrackers?). He nods and passes around a catalogue detailing each firecracker on offer.

Phuljhadi (sparklers), chakhri (ground spinners), anaar (flowerpots), rockets, ladi (bomb garlands), as well as a Big Skyshot the store has a plethora of options, priced between ₹900 and ₹12,000, provided you place a bulk order.

There may be a blanket ban on the sale, manufacture, storage and use of all types of firecrackers in Delhi, but it hasn't deterred a black market from taking root across the national capital ahead of Diwali. The illegal sales and slipshod enforcement have triggered concerns that Delhi will once again be pushed headlong into a pollution crisis on Diwali and the day after, as toxic fumes from firecrackers mingle with local emissions and farm fire smoke, and subject the city's residents to lungfuls of a deadly cocktail.