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On Tuesday morning inhabitants of the world's most polluted city found themselves exposed to extremely polluted air that fell into the "critical" range.

Record-Breaking Air Quality Readings

Various sections of Delhi recorded an AQI exceeding 500, which represents a tenfold increase over the healthy limit set by the global health authority.

Particular areas, readings of toxic particulate matter hit highs of 1,800, amounting to fifteen to twenty times above acceptable levels.

Firecracker Prohibition and Recent Developments

Beginning in 2020, the government had maintained a comprehensive restriction on the distribution and bursting of pyrotechnics during Diwali due to their significant contribution to the hazardous pollution that covers the city as the cold season approaches.

Nevertheless earlier this year, the newly elected regional government petitioned the supreme court to request a easing of the prohibition.

They proposed allowing "green crackers" – which have been criticized by environmentalists as being only about 30% reduced emissions – as a compromise between "cultural practices and environment".

Legal Decision and Implementation

Despite concerns of environmental and health activists, judges agreed to the appeal, stipulating that green firecrackers could be ignited during specific time windows throughout the Diwali.

On Monday night, there was widespread flouting of the regulated periods across the metropolis, with insufficient enforcement regarding whether the firecrackers being used were actually the eco-friendly version.

Several monitoring devices throughout the capital registered contamination spiking around the night hours to extremely hazardous readings seen during Diwali in at least the past three years.

International Consequences

The proliferation of pyrotechnics during Diwali also triggered a dispute with bordering the neighboring country, with representatives in Pakistani Punjab partly blaming declining pollution levels in Lahore on hazardous particles coming from India following the celebrations.

Persistent Pollution Issue

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

Near celebratory seasons, the concentration of dangerous airborne contaminants in the atmosphere has been documented to shoot up to significantly exceeding the worst records ever measured in Beijing, which was previously regarded as the world's most polluted city.

Multiple Pollution Factors

The situation in Delhi is attributed to a combination of various sources including heavy vehicle emissions, dust, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from agricultural fires in adjacent states of Punjab and Haryana.

In these regions, farmers routinely ignite agricultural waste to prepare for next season, producing toxic pollution that then gets trapped over the metropolitan area as colder air descends.

Medical and Financial Impact

The economic and health consequences on the nearly 33 million inhabitants living in the Delhi area is significant, according to multiple studies.

This pollution results in increased incidence of nervous system, heart and circulatory and breathing conditions, and can potentially cause oncological diseases.

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