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Tuesday brought citizens of the world's most polluted city encountered inhaling severely hazardous air that fell into the "severe" category.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Multiple areas of Delhi registered an AQI exceeding 500, which translates to a tenfold increase over the safe threshold recommended by the WHO.

Certain monitoring stations, levels of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of 1,800, amounting to 15-20x higher than safe levels.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Recent Changes

For the past four years, officials had maintained a total prohibition on the sale and use of fireworks during celebrations due to their major role to the hazardous pollution that engulfs the capital as winter approaches.

Nevertheless in recent months, the newly elected local government petitioned the highest court to propose a modification of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – historically doubted by environmentalists as being only about 30% lower impact – as a compromise between "tradition and public health".

Legal Verdict and Implementation

Despite concerns of environmental and health activists, the court agreed to the appeal, specifying that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific periods throughout the festival.

During the celebrations, there was extensive flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with minimal regulation regarding whether the fireworks being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Several monitoring devices throughout the city recorded air quality reaching highest levels around late evening to extremely hazardous readings observed during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Regional Effects

Extensive ignition of fireworks during the festival also sparked a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to declining pollution levels in Lahore on contaminants traveling from across the border following the festivities.

Chronic Pollution Crisis

Alarmingly severe levels of atmospheric toxins in the city have remained as a significant challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Near the festival period, the concentration of dangerous particulate matter in the air has been observed to increase dramatically to significantly exceeding the most severe records ever measured in Beijing, which was once considered as the globally most contaminated city.

Multiple Pollution Factors

The situation in the city is resulting from a convergence of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, building projects, garbage fires and pollutants from farm burning in nearby areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, farmers regularly ignite agricultural waste to expedite field preparation, creating toxic smog that remains stagnant over the metropolitan area as cooler air sets in.

Health and Economic Impact

The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million inhabitants calling home the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to various studies.

The contaminated air results in elevated rates of nervous system, heart and circulatory and breathing disorders, and can even lead to oncological diseases.

Air quality crisis is estimated to be causing 10,000 early fatalities annually in the city.