New Delhi: The firecracker market near Jama Masjid had a desolate look on 11 October, a Friday. On a visit to the area, ThePrint found most shops had their shutters down, and the few that remained open were only selling lighting effects and sound equipment. A couple of shops displayed a single sample of green crackers but said they wouldn’t accept orders unless the Supreme Court eased the ongoing ban on firecracker sales.

ThePrint also spotted at least a dozen hand carts lining the street outside the closed shops, openly selling crackers. Occasionally, a ‘2000- wallah ’—a long string of 2,000 interconnected firecrackers that explode in rapid succession—was seen among the merchandise. Most cracker packages were labeled with “Eco-friendly” printed in green. One unusual store was selling

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