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On Tuesday morning residents of this heavily contaminated metropolis encountered exposed to severely hazardous air that registered in the "critical" range.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Levels

Several parts of the city registered an air quality index over 500, which equals ten times the recommended limit established by the global health authority.

Particular areas, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of 1,800, equating to 15-20x exceeding acceptable standards.

Fireworks Prohibition and Recent Developments

For the past four years, the government had maintained a complete ban on the sale and use of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their major role to the deadly haze that engulfs the metropolis as winter approaches.

Nevertheless in recent months, the recently formed city government petitioned the supreme court to request a modification of the ban.

They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – which have been questioned by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a balance between "tradition and ecological concerns".

Judicial Decision and Implementation

Much to the frustration of medical and ecological activists, the court agreed to the proposal, specifying that green firecrackers could be used during designated hours throughout the Diwali.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread flouting of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient regulation regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Several recording stations throughout Delhi showed air quality reaching highest levels around midnight to extremely hazardous measurements seen during Diwali in at least recent memory.

International Implications

Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the festival also triggered a blame game with bordering the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistani Punjab partly blaming deteriorating atmospheric conditions in their urban centers on hazardous particles coming from neighboring India following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Crisis

Extremely elevated readings of pollution in the capital have remained as a significant problem for fifteen-plus years, with the problem showing no improvement.

During celebratory seasons, the amount of toxic airborne contaminants in the environment has been documented to increase dramatically to 70% higher the worst records ever documented in Beijing, which was once viewed as the planet's dirtiest metropolis.

Diverse Pollution Contributors

The situation in the capital is attributed to a mix of different contributors including automobile exhaust, construction debris, development work, waste incineration and pollutants from farm burning in nearby regions of neighboring agricultural zones.

Within these states, rural residents regularly set their fields on fire to prepare for next season, generating toxic smog that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as colder air arrives.

Medical and Financial Impact

Public health and economic consequences on the approximately 33 million people calling home the Delhi area is significant, according to numerous investigations.

The contaminated air causes elevated rates of neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and can even lead to oncological diseases.

Environmental contamination is estimated to be causing approximately 10k premature fatalities per year in the city.