New Delhi, Sept. 27 -- Ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed licensed manufacturers to resume production of certified green crackers, though on the strict condition that they will not be sold in the national capital and adjoining areas, while continuing the ban on their sale and storage in the region. The order, delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice Bhushan R Gavai and justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, came on a clutch of applications filed by firecracker manufacturers challenging the top court's April 3 blanket ban. That order, passed in view of Delhi's "horrible" air quality, had prohibited not only the bursting but also the manufacture, sale, and storage of crackers across Delhi and adjoining NCR districts in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. The bench emphasised that "extreme orders create extreme situations," stressing the need to balance the fundamental right to clean air with the livelihood concerns of thousands of workers dependent on the fireworks industry. The bench accepted the plea but made it conditional: "We permit manufacturers who have valid certification of green crackers.However, the same shall be subject to the undertaking that they will not sell their products in the prohibited area (Delhi-NCR)." "In spite of there being a complete ban, it cannot be implemented. The ban is hardly implemented," observed the bench, noting that prohibitions often drive activities underground, as seen in Bihar's illegal mining mafia. The court, therefore, stopped short of lifting the Delhi-NCR ban but asked the Centre to evolve a "workable solution" in consultation with the Delhi government, manufacturers, traders and other stakeholders. The Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change has been directed to submit a concrete proposal by October 8. "We find that it will be appropriate that the Union government comes out with a solution after taking all stakeholders, including the Delhi government, manufacturers and sellers of crackers," stated the court order. During the hearing, the Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, opposed a complete ban, recalling that in the 2018 Arjun Gopal ruling the Court had itself permitted community fireworks and green crackers. She stressed that "a complete ban is not a solution." But senior advocate and amicus curiae Aparajita Singh reminded the court that its April 3 ban was prompted precisely by such enforcement failures and by the capital's "extraordinary pollution scenario" during the winter months, which poses severe health hazards to children, the elderly, and the infirm....