Govt bodies differ, Centre to test green crackers afresh

Centre Wednesday told Supreme Court that it intended to conduct fresh tests to assess the harmful impact of the use of bariumNEW DELHI: As two govt organisations took contradictory stands on commercial production of next-generation green firecrackers - with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-NEERI approving new formulations and Central Pollution Control Board objecting - Centre Wednesday told Supreme Court that it intended to conduct fresh tests to assess the harmful impact of the use of barium.Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati told a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Augustine George Masih that govt, after consulting stakeholders, had decided to conduct the tests in New Delhi, Bhopal, Kolkata and Chennai.Centre had asked CSIR-NEERI to develop green/low-emission fire