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On Tuesday morning citizens of the planet's dirtiest urban center found themselves inhaling severely hazardous air that was classified as the "critical" range.

Alarming Air Quality Measurements

Various sections of Delhi showed an AQI over 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the healthy limit recommended by the WHO.

In some locations, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 reached peaks of 1,800, equating to 15-20x higher than acceptable levels.

Fireworks Ban and New Changes

For the past four years, authorities had enforced a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers during Diwali due to their substantial impact to the hazardous pollution that blankets the capital as colder weather approaches.

Nevertheless recently, the recently formed regional administration appealed to the highest court to propose a relaxation of the ban.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only approximately one-third lower impact – as a middle ground between "heritage and environment".

Legal Decision and Implementation

Despite concerns of medical and ecological activists, judges complied with the appeal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific periods throughout the celebrations.

Throughout the festival evening, there was widespread violation of the designated hours across the capital, with little monitoring regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the supposedly greener variety.

Numerous monitoring devices throughout the capital registered pollution peaking around late evening to extremely hazardous measurements observed during celebrations in at least the past three years.

International Consequences

Extensive ignition of fireworks during Diwali also initiated a dispute with neighbouring the neighboring country, with officials in Pakistan's Punjab province partly blaming worsening air quality in Lahore on contaminants originating in India following the festivities.

Long-Standing Pollution Problem

The dangerously high levels of atmospheric toxins in the capital have remained as a major challenge for over a decade and a half, with the situation continuing to worsen.

Near celebratory seasons, the concentration of dangerous particles in the air has been documented to increase dramatically to 70% higher the worst readings ever recorded in China's capital, which was previously regarded as the world's most polluted metropolis.

Multiple Contamination Sources

This crisis in the city is resulting from a convergence of multiple factors including transportation pollution, construction debris, development work, rubbish burning and pollutants from farm burning in nearby states of neighboring agricultural zones.

Throughout these areas, farmers routinely set their fields on fire to clear them quickly, producing dangerous smog that becomes contained over the metropolitan area as cooler air sets in.

Public Health and Economic Impact

Public health and economic impact on the approximately 33 million residents living in the metropolitan zone is enormous, according to various investigations.

The contaminated air causes increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung conditions, and can potentially cause malignancies.

Environmental contamination is projected to be responsible for 10,000 untimely mortalities per year in Delhi.