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As Tuesday dawned residents of the world's most polluted city encountered exposed to dangerously toxic air that registered in the "critical" level.

Extremely High Air Quality Levels

Several parts of the city recorded an air quality index exceeding 500, which equals 10x the recommended level established by the WHO.

In some locations, readings of dangerous airborne particles hit highs of 1,800, representing 15 to 20 times higher than acceptable levels.

Pyrotechnics Ban and Current Changes

Beginning in 2020, the government had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the sale and use of fireworks during Diwali due to their major role to the dangerous pollution that engulfs the metropolis as winter begins.

Yet recently, the recently formed regional administration petitioned the supreme court to request a relaxation of the restrictions.

They proposed allowing "environmentally conscious pyrotechnics" – previously criticized by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third reduced emissions – as a compromise between "heritage and environment".

Judicial Verdict and Reality

Much to the frustration of environmental and health campaigners, judicial authorities complied with the request, specifying that green firecrackers could be used during specific time windows throughout the celebrations.

On Monday night, there was widespread violation of the regulated periods across the capital, with little monitoring regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the supposedly greener version.

Several recording stations throughout the city recorded air quality reaching highest levels around midnight to some of the worst levels seen during Diwali in at least recent memory.

Regional Consequences

Extensive ignition of fireworks during Diwali also initiated a dispute with adjacent Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province partly blaming declining pollution levels in Lahore on contaminants originating in India following the festivities.

Long-Standing Pollution Problem

Alarmingly severe concentrations of air contamination in Delhi have remained as a serious problem for fifteen-plus years, with the condition gradually deteriorating.

Around the festival period, the levels of dangerous particulate matter in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to significantly exceeding the peak levels ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was previously considered as the planet's dirtiest city.

Various Pollution Factors

This crisis in the city is attributed to a convergence of various sources including transportation pollution, construction debris, building projects, garbage fires and pollutants from crop residue ignition in adjacent states of Punjab and Haryana.

Throughout these areas, agricultural workers regularly set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, creating toxic haze that remains stagnant over the city as cooler air descends.

Health and Financial Toll

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

This pollution causes elevated rates of neurological, heart and circulatory and respiratory diseases, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is calculated to be causing approximately 10k early deaths per year in Delhi.