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On Tuesday morning inhabitants of the planet's dirtiest urban center were faced with exposed to extremely polluted air that fell into the "alarming" category.

Extremely High Pollution Readings

Multiple areas of Delhi registered an AQI above 500, which translates to 10x the recommended level established by the WHO.

In some locations, readings of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of 1800, representing fifteen to twenty times exceeding acceptable standards.

Fireworks Ban and Recent Changes

Since 2020, authorities had maintained a complete ban on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the dangerous smog that blankets the metropolis as colder weather approaches.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the newly elected local administration petitioned the supreme court to propose a modification of the ban.

The suggestion was allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – historically criticized by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and environment".

Court Decision and Reality

Despite concerns of environmental and health activists, the court agreed to the request, mandating that green firecrackers could be set off during limited hours throughout the festival.

On Monday night, there was considerable disregard of the time restrictions across the city, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener type.

Many monitoring devices throughout Delhi recorded air quality reaching highest levels around late evening to extremely hazardous levels seen during Diwali in at least the past three years.

Cross-Border Implications

The widespread use of fireworks during the celebrations also initiated a blame game with bordering Pakistan, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to worsening atmospheric conditions in Lahore on hazardous particles coming from India following the events.

Persistent Pollution Crisis

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in Delhi have persisted as a serious issue for over a decade and a half, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Near Diwali, the concentration of toxic airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been found to spike to seventy percent above the worst levels ever documented in China's capital, which was once regarded as the world's most polluted city.

Multiple Contamination Sources

The situation in the capital is attributed to a combination of multiple factors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, development work, garbage fires and smoke from crop residue ignition in neighbouring areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Within these states, agricultural workers routinely set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, creating hazardous pollution that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as winter air arrives.

Medical and Economic Toll

Both financial and medical consequences on the approximately 33 million residents residing in the Delhi area is enormous, according to multiple research.

These hazardous conditions leads to elevated rates of nervous system, cardiovascular and respiratory disorders, and can even lead to cancer.

The pollution is projected to be responsible for approximately 10k early deaths each year in the city.