“ Jaldi le lijiye, police ghoom rahi hai (Please buy quickly, the police are patrolling)”, a young seller told a customer in a narrow lane in Sadar Bazar on Tuesday afternoon. It was around 2.30 pm, a day before the permitted window for selling firecrackers in Delhi was to begin.

Yet, business was already in full swing.

The seller, in his early 20s, was among a group of young men carrying kattas (sacks) stuffed with packets of firecrackers – phuljharis, anaar, rockets, chakris, children’s matchstick crackers and high-decibel crackers.

When asked whether these were green crackers , he replied, “Yeh kya hota hai? (What is that?)”

When reminded of the Supreme Court order , which would come into effect on Wednesday, another young man in the group said, “That’s exactly why we are asking you to buy them quickly.”

Ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court had on Monday allowed the sale of certified green crackers at designated locations in Delhi-NCR for three days – from November 4 to 6.…