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On Tuesday morning citizens of the world's most polluted city found themselves breathing dangerously toxic air that was classified as the "alarming" level.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Levels

Multiple areas of Delhi recorded an pollution measurement over 500, which translates to 10x the healthy limit established by the global health authority.

Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles reached peaks of eighteen hundred, amounting to 15-20x higher than healthy limits.

Fireworks Prohibition and Current Changes

For the past four years, the government had enforced a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the deadly smog that engulfs the metropolis as the cold season sets in.

Yet earlier this year, the current regional administration petitioned the supreme court to request a easing of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "green crackers" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only about 30% less polluting – as a balance between "tradition and public health".

Judicial Verdict and Implementation

Much to the frustration of environmental and health campaigners, the court approved the appeal, specifying that green firecrackers could be set off during designated hours throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was extensive flouting of the time restrictions across the capital, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Numerous recording stations throughout the city registered air quality peaking around midnight to the most severe levels observed during the festival in at least three years.

Regional Consequences

Extensive ignition of fireworks during the celebrations also initiated a blame game with bordering the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistani the Punjab region partly blaming deteriorating atmospheric conditions in Lahore on pollutants traveling from across the border following the celebrations.

Long-Standing Environmental Problem

Alarmingly severe levels of air contamination in the capital have continued as a significant problem for fifteen-plus years, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

Near the festival period, the levels of toxic particles in the atmosphere has been observed to spike to significantly exceeding the peak levels ever documented in the Chinese city, which was previously considered as the globally most contaminated urban center.

Various Contamination Contributors

The problem in Delhi is resulting from a mix of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, dust, construction activities, waste incineration and pollutants from agricultural fires in nearby regions of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, farmers regularly ignite agricultural waste to clear them quickly, generating toxic pollution that remains stagnant over the capital as cooler air sets in.

Public Health and Economic Consequences

Public health and economic consequences on the roughly thirty-three million inhabitants residing in the capital region is significant, according to multiple research.

The contaminated air results in increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung diseases, and can even lead to cancer.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be causing ten thousand early mortalities per year in Delhi.