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On Tuesday morning inhabitants of the world's most polluted city were faced with breathing severely hazardous air that fell into the "severe" category.

Extremely High Pollution Measurements

Multiple areas of Delhi registered an air quality index over 500, which represents ten times the safe limit recommended by the WHO.

Particular areas, levels of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of eighteen hundred, equating to 15 to 20 times exceeding healthy limits.

Firecracker Prohibition and Recent Changes

Beginning in 2020, officials had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their substantial impact to the dangerous smog that blankets the city as colder weather sets in.

However recently, the newly elected city administration approached the judicial authority to request a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – which have been questioned by environmentalists as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a balance between "heritage and ecological concerns".

Legal Decision and Reality

Despite concerns of medical and ecological advocates, judges approved the request, specifying that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be set off during designated periods throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread disregard of the time restrictions across the city, with little enforcement regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the eco-friendly variety.

Several air quality sensors throughout the capital recorded contamination reaching highest levels around late evening to extremely hazardous levels seen during Diwali in at least recent memory.

Cross-Border Effects

The widespread use of pyrotechnics during Diwali also triggered a controversy with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's the Punjab region partially attributing declining air quality in Lahore on contaminants originating in India following the events.

Chronic Pollution Problem

Alarmingly severe readings of air contamination in the city have remained as a serious issue for more than 15 years, with the problem continuing to worsen.

Near celebratory seasons, the concentration of toxic particulate matter in the atmosphere has been documented to spike to seventy percent above the worst levels ever documented in the Chinese city, which was formerly regarded as the planet's dirtiest urban center.

Multiple Pollution Factors

The problem in the city is caused by a combination of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, construction activities, garbage fires and pollutants from agricultural fires in adjacent states of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, rural residents routinely set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, producing hazardous pollution that remains stagnant over the capital as cooler air sets in.

Health and Economic Toll

Both financial and medical toll on the nearly 33 million residents calling home the Delhi area is substantial, according to numerous investigations.

These hazardous conditions causes elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

The pollution is estimated to be causing ten thousand untimely fatalities per year in the capital.