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On Tuesday morning citizens of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to dangerously toxic air that fell into the "severe" category.

Extremely High Air Quality Measurements

Several parts of Delhi registered an air quality index above 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the healthy limit recommended by the World Health Organization.

In some locations, concentrations of dangerous airborne particles soared to of eighteen hundred, equating to fifteen to twenty times exceeding safe limits.

Fireworks Restrictions and New Changes

For the past four years, authorities had maintained a complete ban on the purchase and ignition of fireworks during celebrations due to their significant contribution to the dangerous pollution that blankets the city as the cold season approaches.

Yet earlier this year, the recently formed city government approached the judicial authority to seek a relaxation of the prohibition.

Officials advocated for allowing "green crackers" – previously questioned by environmental experts as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a middle ground between "cultural practices and environment".

Legal Verdict and Implementation

To the disappointment of medical and ecological activists, judges approved the appeal, mandating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be set off during specific periods throughout the celebrations.

During the celebrations, there was considerable flouting of the regulated periods across the capital, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the more environmentally friendly version.

Several monitoring devices throughout the capital registered pollution peaking around late evening to extremely hazardous measurements recorded during celebrations in at least recent memory.

International Consequences

The widespread use of firecrackers during the celebrations also initiated a controversy with neighbouring Pakistan, with officials in Pakistani Punjab province pointing to deteriorating pollution levels in Lahore on contaminants originating in across the border following the festivities.

Persistent Pollution Issue

Extremely elevated levels of pollution in the city have persisted as a major challenge for over a decade and a half, with the problem gradually deteriorating.

During the festival period, the levels of dangerous airborne contaminants in the environment has been observed to shoot up to 70% higher the peak levels ever recorded in the Chinese city, which was formerly viewed as the world's most polluted city.

Various Pollution Sources

This crisis in Delhi is attributed to a mix of multiple factors including transportation pollution, dust, building projects, garbage fires and pollutants from farm burning in neighbouring states of farming communities.

Within these states, rural residents illegally set their fields on fire to expedite field preparation, creating dangerous haze that remains stagnant over the city as winter air arrives.

Public Health and Financial Toll

The economic and health consequences on the nearly 33 million residents calling home the metropolitan zone is substantial, according to numerous research.

The contaminated air causes high levels of nervous system, heart and circulatory and lung disorders, and can result in oncological diseases.

Air quality crisis is projected to be responsible for 10,000 early mortalities annually in the capital.