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Tuesday brought citizens of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves breathing severely hazardous air that registered in the "alarming" range.

Extremely High Pollution Readings

Multiple areas of Delhi registered an AQI over 500, which equals 10x the safe threshold set by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, concentrations of toxic particulate matter reached peaks of 1,800, representing fifteen to twenty times above acceptable levels.

Firecracker Ban and Current Policy Shifts

For the past four years, officials had implemented a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of fireworks during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the dangerous haze that blankets the metropolis as colder weather approaches.

Nevertheless recently, the newly elected regional leadership petitioned the judicial authority to request a relaxation of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – which have been questioned by conservation groups as being only about 30% less polluting – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and environment".

Court Verdict and Reality

To the disappointment of medical and ecological activists, judges complied with the proposal, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be ignited during designated hours throughout the Diwali.

During the celebrations, there was considerable flouting of the time restrictions across the capital, with little regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout Delhi recorded pollution peaking around midnight to the most severe levels observed during Diwali in at least three years.

International Consequences

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during the festival also triggered a dispute with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab partly blaming deteriorating atmospheric conditions in the city of Lahore on hazardous particles traveling from across the border following the events.

Long-Standing Environmental Issue

The dangerously high levels of atmospheric toxins in the city have remained as a serious problem for fifteen-plus years, with the situation gradually deteriorating.

Near Diwali, the concentration of hazardous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been documented to increase dramatically to seventy percent above the most severe readings ever measured in Beijing, which was previously considered as the globally most contaminated metropolis.

Various Contamination Factors

The situation in the capital is resulting from a mix of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in nearby areas of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, agricultural workers routinely burn crop residue to prepare for next season, producing hazardous smog that becomes contained over the capital as cooler air sets in.

Health and Economic Impact

Public health and economic consequences on the nearly 33 million people residing in the capital region is substantial, according to multiple research.

This pollution causes high levels of neurological, heart and circulatory and breathing diseases, and can result in malignancies.

The pollution is estimated to be responsible for 10,000 premature mortalities per year in Delhi.