Diwali Crackers Bursting Timings Across Indian Cities
Why there is no single Diwali bursting-hours list for Indian cities: the 8-10pm default, the NGT air-quality restriction, and where to check your citys actual rule.
Diwali crackers bursting timings across Indian cities are not one national timetable, and that's the first thing to get right before you plan your evening. There's a default legal framework that applies broadly, but the exact hours enforced in your city can be narrower, and it's set locally, not printed on any single national notice.
The default framework: a two-hour window
The Supreme Court's ruling on firecrackers permits a two-hour bursting window during festivals, and several state governments have set that window as 8-10 pm specifically for Diwali. That's the baseline most cities work from, but "several states" is not "all states," and even within a state, individual cities or local police commissionerates can issue their own tighter notification closer to the festival date. Treat 8-10 pm as the framework to expect, not a guarantee for your specific address.
Why timings vary city to city
Separately from the two-hour window rule, the National Green Tribunal directed, by orders dated 9 November and 1 December 2020 (O.A. No. 249/2020), that only green crackers may be used in cities and towns where air quality is moderate or below. That's an air-quality-based restriction, not a timing rule on its own, but it's the reason two cities can have different practical rules on the same night: one city's air quality reading might restrict it to green crackers only, while a neighbouring city with cleaner air on the same evening faces no such restriction. Local administrations layer their own bursting-hours notification on top of this framework, which is why a single fixed city-by-city timing list published in advance is never reliable, air quality conditions and local orders can shift the practical rule from year to year and even week to week in the run-up to Diwali.
What stays constant regardless of city
One thing doesn't vary by location: the legal noise ceiling. No firecracker sold in India, green or conventional, may exceed 125 dB(AI) or 145 dB(C) pk, measured 4 metres from the point of bursting, and that limit is enforced through PESO testing and certification before a product can be manufactured at all. A joined series has its permitted level reduced further, by 5 x log10(N) dB for N crackers joined together. This national ceiling applies inside whatever local timing window your city sets; it's not a substitute for checking that window.
How to find your city's actual rule
Because the exact hours are set locally and can change close to the festival, the reliable source is your state pollution control board's notification or your local police commissionerate's Diwali advisory, issued in the days before the festival, not a generic online list. If your city or district falls under the NGT's air-quality restriction, that same local notification will typically confirm it.
Plan around the framework, not a fixed list
Build your evening around the 8-10 pm default as a starting assumption, then confirm the specific local notification for your city closer to the date. Our Supreme Court crackers rules guide and cracker ban rules by state go deeper into both rulings if you want the full legal picture behind this framework.